Chronicles of a Basketball Loving Redhead
by TheLightGuardian
Summary: Meet Artemis Arashi. A 16 year old girl who's in love with basketball. After she returns to Japan from her stay in the States, Artemis enrolls in Seirin High School and joins the Basketball club as the manager. She thought it would be a normal year. But how wrong she was. GOMXOCXKAGAMI
1. Meet Artemis

**Chronicles of a Basketball Loving Redhead**

**A/N: Hello! This is my first Kuroko No Basket story, so I hope you all like it! Thank you for reading and if you see any mistakes in the story or have any ideas you wanna see in the story or just want to share, im always here to hear them! Please R&R**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KUROKO NO BASKET ONLY THIS PLOT AND MY OCS! IF I DID OWN KUROKO NO BASKET THEN AKASHI WOULDNT HAVE CUT HIS HAR!**

**ENJOY!~~**

Yo!

My name's Artemis Risho Arashi . I am 16 years old. I now live in the Akita district of Tokyo because my parents decided it was time for me to head to the mother country, as I call it. I'm living alone now because my parents are 'very busy business people' and they had to stay back in America for work.

I have a really pale complexion, longish red hair that's so red, it's unnatural. I have long bangs that cover my right eye ever since I let it grow in the last year of middle school. I have dark violet eyes. I am of average height, around 5'8, and weight. My current bust size is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself, since I am an F-cup, which is pretty strange since up until now I've been a late bloomer. In other words, I was pretty nearly flat chested until the last year of middle school.

The most important thing you should know about me? I'm a basket ball enthusiast.

Yup. I absolutely love basketball and have been in love with it ever since I started playing at the age of 12.

Enough about my looks for now.

This is the story about my first year of high school, and the idiots/dorks I met along the way

**Getting to Japan**

**_~Two weeks ago~_**

"Arty, honey. Me and your mother need to speak to you now" My Father called out from the kitchen.

Sighing, I stood from the living room couch and made my way to my parents, dread coursing through me. I came toward the kitchen and leaned on the wall, facing my parents.

My dad was a man in his late 30s, with livid red hair that was cut just above his eyes and a pale complexion. He had kind jade green eyes and his usual smile in place, but to me, it looked a little forced.

My mother on the other hand, had long, pin-straight black hair and bright purple eyes and a tan complexion. She sat up straight in her chair by the table, her features as regal as a queen's.

"Yes?" I asked nervously.

"Honey, your mother and I have come to a decision about where you'll be attending school this year" dad started to say.

I held my breath in anticipation. They weren't going to let me stay with them?! That was too much to hope for, but I, having a small ray of hope, couldn't help but think that maybe they wanted me to stay with them.

"We think it will be better if you return to Japan" My mother finished. I stared at them with my mouth hanging open in shock.

"Dad, mother... You can't be serious!" I shout after a long silence."Japan? Sure I can speak Japanese, but a different country? Why?"

My dad looks at me with sadness in his eyes, as if he doesn't want to send me away but has to."Honey, we think it would be better..."

"Better for who?" I cut in.

"Artemis!" My mother scolds.

I frown at them and sigh. What was the point in arguing with them? I'd still have to go to Japan anyway. I'd miss my dad a lot, and my mother somewhat but I really had no ties to America, despite having a basketball partner.

"Fine. On one condition" I say, raising one finger.

My mother stared at me warily but nodded." Which is?" She asked

"I get to choose the school" I replied, trying not to look smug.

You see my mother wanted me to go to these 'prestigious' school that had a lot of classes and programs. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to go to a 'bad' school, but the ones she wanted just never appealed to me.

My dad looked like this condition wouldn't be a problem but my mother glared at me.

"Artemis, I thought we.." She started to argue before my dad cut her off.

"Now, dear. I think it's a fair condition. Arty will be the one going to the school after all" he said. Mentally, I shouted **_'GO DAD'_**

I grinned and said, "Well, if that's all..."

Mother quickly said,"While you're in Japan, we expect you to not slack off in your studies. No more pranks, young lady" in her scolding voice.

"Hai hai!" I replied in Japanese instinctively."It was only in the first year of middle school mother!" Which was true. Me and my best friend May, who had moved to another country last year, used to pull many pranks on people. Apparently my mother still hadn't forgotten.

With a nod from my parents, I quickly left the kitchen and went to my room. Better start packing, I thought.

'_**Well at least Japan won't be that weird, I've visited it a couple of times**_' I thought.

Oh how wrong I was.


	2. The Giant of Akita

**Chronicles of a Basketball Loving Redhead**

**Yo Minna!**

**Thanks for reading guys! I hope you liked the first chapter! I kinda wanted Artemis to meet a GOM member before school started but didn't know who to pick. Anyway, in this chapter, you finally get to see Artemis play basket! She doesn't go all-out yet but nearly does! If you guys have any suggestions for characters, ideas or just criticism about the story, please come to me!~~**

**Gomen if some of the characters seem kinda OOC, but this is how I pictured they'd react to certain things~~**

**Do you guys want Artemis to end up with anyone? Please send me your thoughts! Do you want more romance, a certain character to come in, anything at all, please ask!**

**Please R&R!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KUROKO NO BASKET. IF I DID, THEN TATSUYA WOULD HAVE MORE SCREEN TIME!~~**

**ENJOY!~~~**

~Two Weeks After That Conversation~

After two long weeks filled with packing, filling out papers, graduation, and goodbyes, I find myself boarding a plane to Japan.

My parents and I had already planned everything out. I would be moving to our old house in Akita, while they would stay here in America and visit me from time to time. I looked out the plane window in nervous excitement. It had been a while since I had gone Japan, but I remembered how beautiful it was, with Sakura trees and it's festivals...

My mother had tried to talk me into going to a 'prestigious' school, namely Yosen, since it was closer to where I'd be living, and Rakuzan, which she wanted me to attend in the first place, but I declined, saying I had already picked a school and had been accepted.

I would be attending Serin High School. It was a new school that had recently opened up, not very far from Akita, but not really around the corner either. At least it had good programs and classes, I thought.

I looked down at my lap to the small packages I was holding tightly. It was my mother's and my dad's gifts to me for making Honor Roll in middle school.

~FLASHBACK TIME!~

My mother had gotten me a beautiful violin. I had wanted to own one ever since I saw a girl playing a violin in the street. I was surprised that she'd remember, though I think dad reminded her. I couldn't wait to get into a music club in my new school.

"Make sure you don't break it! And practice everyday!" She told me.

"Hai!" I replied.

My dad on the other hand had given me a box of different colored paint with brushes and told me it was because he saw that I would draw in my spare time. While I do admit that drawing was a bit of a hobby for me, I couldn't help but feel disappointed with my dad's gift. Did this mean he was no longer supporting me with my basketball? Had he finally decided to side with mom?

As I looked at the box my dad gave me, I couldn't help but notice the small black markings in the white box. Taking a closer look at it, I almost gasp in delight. It said,'Couldn't give you your real present in front of mom. It's in your closet, beside the red sweater'

I ran to my room and pushed the pile of clothe away from my favorite red sweater. Under it was a brand new basketball. I smiled brightly at it. He remembered! Three weeks ago, I told dad that my old basketball was getting a bit worn, so I might need a new one to play.

Before dinner, I ran to my dad and gave him a big hug."Thanks Dad!" I whisper-shouted, careful not to alert mother.

"Anything for you, Arty" my dad said, giving me his big smile.

~~~End Flashback~~~

I smiled fondly at the memory just as the pilot announced we would be taking off in a few minuted.

Since I had time to relax, I put on my headphones and got my iPad out of my bag. At least I could watch some anime while I waited.

I sighed. I was turning into an Otaku* again, wasn't I?

**_((Present Time))_**

I was finally here! After that looong freaking flight, I was finally in front of my old house in Akita!

I smiled brightly at the old one story house. I basically grew up here before my parents and I moved to America when I was 8. Home sweet home, I thought.

I placed the key inside the lock at the front door and walked inside, making sure to leave my shoes at the entrance. I took a deep breath, just smelling the familiar sent of wood and coffee that the small house had.

My mother had tried to talk me into moving to our mansion on the other side of Japan, which would've ensure me going to Rakuzan High. As you can see, I turned her down.

I was hit with sudden nostalgia as I walked into the familiar rooms. The kitchen, the hall, the living room... All the places I had spent happy moments with my mother and father, before the big business disaster. Ok, it isn't a 'disaster' really, but to me, it's the thing that made my parents change. My mother changed drastically whilst my dad changed slightly.

I put my bags down in the room I'd be staying in. My old bedroom, albeit with a new bed, still looked exactly the same. Purple colored walls with red and black swirls and designs that me and my parents painted on it a few months after moving in.

I didn't really have to clean here, I realized. Dad probably sent someone to clean out the house before I came here. I thanked Kami-sama and my dad for not making me clean. Cleaning wasn't exactly my favorite thing to do.

I went back to the kitchen and saw that there wasn't any edible food there. '_Guess its time to hit the streets_' I thought. I took my keys and some yen from a bag and put on a sweatshirt over my shirt. It was a bit chilly in Japan around this time, it was fall after all.

I looked at the small map displayed in my phone so I wouldn't get lost. I might've grown up here, but there were many new buildings. I smiled as a couple of kids ran past me, playing tag.

After a few minutes, with many wrong turns, cursing and asking directions, I finally found a supermarket. I went inside and my eyes light up at all the food displays. I might be a girl but I've got the stomach of four, my dad always said. I squealed like a little kid during Christmas as I walked through the aisles.

I was just about to get to the candy section, after picking out all the products I needed and putting them in a cart, when I rammed into someone. A heavy, _really_ tall, someone. I landed on my butt with a 'Omph' and slowly looked up at the guy who hadn't been moved an inch.

"Huh? What was that just now?" He spoke slowly, almost lazily, looking around him. He had longish, shoulder-length purple hair and lazy-looking, half closed purple eyes. Finally taking note of me one the floor, he held out his hand, which was abnormally huge, and helped me up.

"Thanks" I said, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. I nearly cracked my neck just to look up at him. He was almost two freaking meters tall!

"Sorry about running into you. I was kinda in a rush to the candy aisle and didn't notice you" I apologized, feeling stupid for not taking note of the giant. But hey, it was candy!

"It's ok~" he said in his lazy voice." I was just heading there now. They have new flavored chips~"

I could only stare at him dumbly. He was acting like a little kid...

"Are you an athlete?" I asked him. No one else could be this tall. Or maybe he's on steroids. "Or on steroids?" I asked before I could stop myself. I slapped my mouth and my eyes widened. I can't believe I just asked this guy if he takes steroids! I didn't even know his name!

"I play basket~" the guy replied, as if someone asking if he took steroids was normal. Well, with his height, it probably was.

"Gomen!" I said quickly "I really shouldn't ask that when I don't even know your name"

"It's Murasakibara Atsushi" he said.

"I'm Arashi Artemis. Nice to meet you, Musa... Maru.."

"Murasakibara" he repeated.

"I think I'll just call you Atsushi" I said. His last name was so hard to pronounce!

Atushi shrugged at me and began walking to the candy aisle. I walked behind him.

"You said you played basket?" I asked him, curious.

He nodded his head and kept on looking at the candy."I always win" he said casually.

I raised an eyebrow at him."Clearly you haven't played strong opponents if you always win"

He shook his head."Some were strong. Still crushed them" he said, taking an armful of chocolate bars.

If this were anime, a tick mark would've appeared in my head. "Would you play against me then? I'd bet things would turn out different"

"You play basket?" He asked, and it seemed to surprise him.

"Hell yeah I play basket" I snapped, annoyed. Just cuz I'm a girl doesn't mean I couldn't play!

He held out his hands in a surrendering manner. "Ok then. Let's play" he said, going to the counter and paying for his candy. I paid for the food it bought, and the candy I quickly shoved in the kart.

"We'll play over by that court in ten minutes" Atsushi said, pointing over to a basketball court across the street. I nodded my head."I'll wait here" he said indifferently, as if this was just a waste of his time. That teme!

I walked quickly back home and grabbed my new ball out of its bag. Seems like its first game would be a tough one. But there's no way in hell I'd loose to that guy! He seemed so arrogant in the way he said 'Still crushed them' as if he didn't believe those teams ever stood a chance. It was arrogant people I hated the most when it came to basket. I put on bandages around my breast so that I could play more comfortably and went outside.

I made my way over to the court and found Atsushi waiting for me, three bags of food already opened. I grinned, _finally I'm playing after a while_, I thought. I dribbled the ball expertly and called out to the giant.

"Atsushi! Let's play. Three baskets is the limit"

He nodded his head, the bored look still in his eyes, still eating sweets. I gritted my teeth when I realized he wasn't even taking me seriously. That bastard!

I smirked suddenly. '_He won't be doing that for long. Better go nearly all out'_ I thought before sprinting past Atsushi.

When I ran past him, he had a shocked look on his face. He quickly ran, trying to catch up to me, but it was too late. I was already a few feet off the ground. My hand slammed the ball into the basket. I was in the lead 1-0!

I grinned at the purple haired boy, who was looking at me with surprise.

"You didn't say you were good Ara-chin!" He whined. "You're even faster than Mine-chin!"

I raised an eyebrow at him."Arachin? Minechin?" I asked. Then I gave him a glare."You just assumed that I suck, didn't you Atsushi?"

"I call some people chin~" Atsushi replied." Minechin was my teammate back in Teiko. My team was called The Generation of Miracles" he added, not answering my last question, I noticed.

"Generation of miracles? Teiko? Where you a basket team? And you didn't answer my last question" I asked, curious.

"Yeah we were a team in middle school. Enough talk. Let's play" he said, avoiding my question again (wise move) and I shrugged. I took a defensive stance against Atsushi, who now looked more serious.

Out of nowhere, Atsushi suddenly ran left, toward the basket. Me, being quick on my feet managed to catch up with him and block the ball on its course to the basket. Atsushi gave me another shocked look.

"Stop being so shocked! You're not unbeatable, teme!" I told him, glaring again. Once again, I rushed past him and to the basket. Unlike last time, Atsushi was serious and used his larger arms to try to block a dunk. At the last minute, I went for a long-distance shot. _Swish_. Nothing but the basket. 2-0

Atsushi gritted his teeth."No way I'm loosing now!" He said and super-Mario-jumped to the basket. I was too slow to react so even when I jumped to try to intercept the ball, my finger barely touched it. _Swish_. Score was now 2-1.

"Playing seriously now, huh?" I asked playfully. Atsushi rolled his eyes and dribbled the ball. How he did it and managed to look lazy at the same time, I'll never know. I rushed at him and shoved the ball from his hands. Sadly, he used his other hand to reach out and catch the ball.

"It's not gonna be so easy" he said, pouting. Just like a little kid.

Atsushi faked to the right but quickly changed to the left in an instant. Despite my quick reflexes, he was able to rush past me and dunk. 2-2

"I won't loose" he said, his eyes not quite so lazy looking anymore.

"Heh, bring it on!" I said, determined.

~~~~30 minutes later~~~~~

Atsushi and I stood facing each other, both panting and sweating heavily. We had been playing for 30 minutes yet the score hadn't changed. Seems that we were evenly matched, I thought with a grin.

Atsushi held out a hand to me. I gave him a questioning look."Let's draw" he said reluctantly. I nodded my head, reluctant as well.

"Thanks for the game Atsu-kun!" I said cheerfully. Despite my initial anger at his arrogance, I came to respect the guy. He was a great player, yet he didn't have the motivation or the love I had for basketball.

_He is a worthy rival_, I thought.

"Ne, Artechin" Atsushi said "You're the first person to push me this far. How where you able to do that?" He asked, wonder in his eyes.

Another thing, it seems we're on first name basis now. Weird but not bad. Although he still annoys me with his lack of drive, modesty and appreciation for the skills of others, I didn't mind having him as a friend.

"I work really hard to become the best!" I say, eyes shinning.

"Hard work huh? Only talent gets you far in basket though" Atsushi said. He was _really_ good at saying things that ticked me off.

I gave him my glare."That's not true"

"Artechin, your glare is scary" Atsushi said, backing away. He reached down for the surviving bag of candies and said "I'm heading home. Ja ne~"

He gave me a piece of candy and walked away.

I looked down at my watch and saw it was now 5:38.

"Guess I could stay and shoot for a while" I say. I pick up the ball and start my drills.

~~One Hour Later~~~

I finally came back home. I threw my ball inside my room and made a beeline to the bathroom. After a quick bath and a change of clothe, I went to the kitchen to make myself some food.

Once I'm done with dinner, I sit in the living room and decided to call mother and dad. I tell them about the flight, the house, and the changes. They replied back, saying nothing's different over there and that they missed me. My dad sounded sincere in that last sentiment.

I hang up and text my dad, telling him about my meeting with Atsushi and our game, that way, mother couldn't find out.

His reply was immediate.

_**"Atsushi from the Generation of Miracles? You were able to go head to head with him? Evenly matched? That's my girl!"**_

I was surprised to see he knew of this Generation of miracles thing. I asked him about it.

**_"Well, they're really basketball famous in Japan. I'll send you some details about them later. Bye Arty!"_**

A team of guys on the same level of Atsushi? Sounds interesting...

Welp. I have another 4 days till I go to Serin, so I might as well get familiar with the place I'll be staying in tomorrow.

** *Otaku- A person obsessed with anime**


	3. Unlucky Second Day

**Yo Minna!~**

**Here's chapter three for you all to enjoy!~ Thank you to all the people who favorite and follow the story! And a bigger thank you to all the people who reviewed! I don't know how to reply to these reviews, though, so I'll do what I've seen a few authors do. I'll reply to reviews at the BOTTOM of the chapter! **

**Thank you all for reading and giving me ideas~ If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, I'm always here to read them!**

**Thanks again~**

**Please R&R**

**Enjoy~**

The day that followed was pretty much uneventful.

Unless you count my gigantic purple haired friend and getting sent to the hospital due to minor burns from baking cookies for said gigantic friend.

But I digress.

~~Unlucky Second Day~~

After going about my daily routine, I had decided to tour around Akita to get familiar with the place.

What I wasn't expecting? To get horribly lost.

Lucky for me, Kami sama sent me a blessing- in the form of Atsushi but a blessing nonetheless.

When I looked around desperately for a familiar feature in the street, as people tend to do when they get lost, I spotted a familiar towering figure in the distance.

"Atsu-kun!" I called out to the purple haired wonder.

"Huh? Oh, it's Artechin" Atsushi said with his usual lazy look.

I scratched the back of my head sheepishly and asked him if he knew how to get to the area near my home.

"Oh that section? It's not far~" Atsushi said."Are you lost?~" he asked me.

I looked down to hide my embarrassed blush. How did he know?!

"I might be" I said and I may or may not have pouted but so what?

I felt an enormous hand drop on my head. I looked up to see Atsushi looking down with a smile.

"Daijobu Artechin~" he said. "I could help you"

I smiled gratefully at him and said, "Lead the way then"

He walked in front of me-eating some sort of candy he pulled from his pockets and asked,"Ne Artechin? Where did you learn to play basket?~"

"Well, I had a friend in America who taught me how to play" I replied. "He moved away two years ago, along with my best friend May" I added, looking down sadly.

"Atsushi, can you tell me more about your middle school team? They sound interesting" I asked him, eager to change the topic. After all, I did want to find out more about this 'Generation of Miracles' or 'Kiseki no Sedai' as they were called here in Japan.

"Eh. Sure" Atsushi responded. "There are five, no six, of us. Minechin, Akachin, Midochin, Kisechin, me, and Kurochin"

((I'll just use GOM instead of Generation of Miracles for now))

"Six? Wasn't it just five?" I asked. My dad had sent me different links with information about the different GOM members, although these reports had no pictures, only information. Googling pictures of them made me feel like a stalker, so I decided against that. I saw articles talking about only five members, though. Was it possible that I missed one?

"Well Akachin used to say that Kurochin was our 'Phantom Sixth Man', so not a lot of people know about Kurochin~" Atsushi replied, which was the longest I've ever heard him talk. "And some people tend to ignore him cuz he's got no presence" he added.

So I wasn't the one at fault here. The people who wrote the article probably forgot to include him. Why? And why was he the 'Phantom Sixth Man'? I didn't want to ask Atsushi, who would probably give me a short reply that would lead to more questions. I wonder what he meant by 'no presence'. Guess it's time for research. I'll go do that later.

People parted away from us quickly. I guess that was another good thing about having Atsushi as a friend. I didn't have to worry about crowds.

I was trying very hard not to laugh as I looked at Atsushi. After researching the GOM yesterday, I had started watching Attack on Titan. Needless to say, I was reminded very much of this anime when I looked at my Titan-sized friend. It was the curse of the Otaku, I thought with an inward sigh.

"Ne Atsu-kun, we should play against each other some other time" I said to him, changing my train of thought. Playing against him yesterday had made me realize that I needed to get back into shape. Two months without basketball had made me loose my touch, I thought.

"That's too much work Artechin~" Atsushi whined.

"I'll bake you cookies~" I said, knowing this would persuade him.

He stopped walking and turned to me immediately.

"You can bake?" He asked, all signs of laziness gone.

"Yep" I replied cheerfully.

He put his giant hands on my shoulders and looked at me seriously.

"Marry me" he said, 100% serious.

I, of course, blushed and walked back a few steps, flustered. What the hell was up with him all of a sudden?!

"N-nani?! W-what're you saying Atsushi?!" I asked him, stuttering.

He looked at me as if he had asked something totally normal.

"No then? Fine, I'll play you if you make me sweeets~~" he said, smiling like a kid with his favorite toy.

I shook my head to become less flustered. Honestly, this guy.

I gave him my death glare, an aura of darkness and death surrounding me.

"Oi Atsushi. Don't joke around with that kind of thing, teme!" I shouted at him, my cheeks only slightly pink now.

Atsushi looked a bit afraid."H-hai"

I sighed, the death aura disappearing."Fine, I'll make you some cookies, and we play against each other later. Deal?" I said, extending my hand.

"Deal~" he said going right back to showing me the way home.

I rolled my eyes and dropped my hand, following him once again. I actually became a bit more comfortable around this district, and I was 100% sure I wouldn't get lost around here anymore. Well, I guess something good did come from getting lost.

Atsushi eventually led me to the area near my house and I sighed with relief.

"I'll go make those cookies now~" I said as I led him inside.

Atsushi had to duck down to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. He looked around my house laizily and smiled.

"It's small, but home-y" he said, sitting down on the couch in the living room.

"Yea~ Anyway, what type of cookies do you want Atsu-kun?" I asked him.

When I didn't hear his reply, I looked over to where he was in the living room but found him right next to me in the kitchen, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Aak!" I shrieked and jumped a foot in the air.

"Stop doing that!" I shouted.

"Doing what?~"

"Scaring me! It almost looks like you're enjoying this!" I accused.

"I can pick any type of cookie?" He asked, looking like a kid in a candy store and ignoring my accusation.

"Any cookie that doesn't have impossible to get toppings" I corrected.

Atsushi looked like he would jump for joy.

"M&Ms, marshmallows, and Reses pieces!" He all but shouted in glee.

"Your sweet tooth is impressive" I said with slight awe."You're lucky I went shopping yesterday" I added.

~~20-30 minutes later~~~

"Cookies are done!~" I call out to Atsushi, who was watching some kid show as if his life depended on it.

He looked up quickly and rushed over to me in an instant. "Cookies!~"

I rolled my eyes at his antics but smiled. "Now pass m-" I began to say before Atsushi, in his excitement or in his desperation to see the cookies, accidentally shoved me closer to the oven.

Long story short, my hands somehow ended up inside the heated oven. I don't remember much of what happened, besides swearing a lot and waving my hands like a lunatic.

In the end, Atsushi had to take me to the hospital and the nice nurse scolded me so badly, I was reminded of mother. Yeah, she was that type of nurse.

"Guess today isn't my lucky day" I said absently to an empty room. Or so I thought.

~~~Somewhere in Japan~~~~

A green haired teen carrying a rubber duck suddenly unleashed a terrible sneeze.

"It can't have been that bad" a male voice said.

I jumped and looked around frantically."Ok, either I've finally gone senile or I've been watching wayyy too much anime" I said nervously, still looking around.

The same voice laughed."I'm sure it's not the first option, I don't know about the second one, though" the guy said.

After much looking, I finally spotted a tall-not Atsushi tall, but still tall- guy with spiky-ish short brown hair giving me a friendly smile.

"Where you there this entire time?" I ask him.

The stranger nodded and said, "The nurse took you here because all the other rooms have patients" with another cheerful smile.

"Well, nice to meet ya! The name's Arashi Artemis" I told the guy with a cheerful smile. He seemed nice and cheerful, just the kind of person I'd get along with.

"Kyoshi Teppei~" he said."You can call me Onii-san~" he added, with a goofier smile.

It seemed a little weird, coming from a total stranger.

"You're weird" I blurted out, using my hand to cover my mouth once again. It seemed this was becoming a habit now, huh?

The comment however, didn't seem to offend the guy. It actually made him chuckle. "You sound like Huyga~" he said, cheerful smile still in place.

"Sorry! It just sort of slipped out" I told him, giving him a sheepish look.

"Ma ma~ it's alright, Arashi-chan~' Teppei said, waving aside my apology.

I chuckled sheepishly at the brunette before I noticed the basketball jersey at his side.

((She didn't notice the school name on the jersey))

"You play basket?!" I asked him eagerly.

He looked surprised for a moment before following my gaze to his jersey and smiling. It wasn't his goofy smile, but something more calm, more fond. In my opinion, it was better than his goofy smile. It was the look of someone who loved something deeply.

"Yeah, I play basket. I formed a team in my school and they're really strong~" he said proudly. The thought of his teammates must've made him happy, I thought, because he seemed more upbeat than before.

"Do you play?" He asked, curiosity shining in his brown eyes.

I nodded proudly."Yep! Me and my friends made an awesome team back in Amerca~" I said, remembering my best friends in America, all who had moved away either in the first or second year of middle school.

"Wow Arashi~chan~~ that's really cool!" Teppei said, smiling again.

I looked at him once again but this time, the gaze of my right eye was sharper, not that anyone would be able to tell, since it was covered. There was actually a reason I covered my right eye. At first it was just because I thought it looked cool at the beginning of middle school. Then, last year during my final basketball game with May before she moved away, I gained a special ability in my right eye, which I decided to hide from my opponents.

I called it Hunter's Eye. I was able to see my opponents physical stats if I glanced sharply at them. I was able to predict the moments of a player in a game based on the small moves they would make unconsciously. I was also able to see a player's strength, weaknesses, potential, special abilities and how they would improve. Although, I rarely used the last ability, this eye of mine came really handy in games.

I hadn't really used this eye in my game against Atsushi, mainly because that was a small one-on-one game. Just like a practice match. I only ever used my eye during serious games. I guess I should use it more often, though. It could help me out in the future.

Anyway, when I glanced at Teppei with my Hunter's Eye, I saw above average stats everywhere. This guy was strong. Despite his goofy attitude, he'd be an opponent I would take seriously, if ever I went against him.

That was what I thought, before I looked at his legs. Despite the thin sheet covering them, I could tell his legs were in bad shape. Recovering, yes, but still in bad shape. No wonder this guy was in the hospital.

"We should play a one-on-one sometime, Arashi~chan!" Teppei suggested brightly, unaware of my scrutiny or just ignoring it.

"You have a leg injury" I blurted out once again. Geez I had to stop doing this. It could become an embarrassing habit.

"How did you know?!" Teppei asked, giving me a look of surprise and shock.

_Time to lie_, I thought.

"The angle of your legs is pretty off" I said, which was partially true."And you just confirmed it yourself" I added.

Teppei sighed and hung his head."Yeah, I have a leg injury. But I'll be up and about and playing basket in no time" he said, looking determined. Wow, this guy's love for basket basically shone in that moment. I respected him instantly.

The nurse soon came back and bandaged my hands. She said the damage was small and that there would be no scars if I kept applying the cream she gave me and kept changing the bandages. I nodded my head humbly, not wanting another scolding from the scary nurse.

She quickly told me I was free to go and left me there. I put on my jacket and grabbed the bag the nurse gave me and gave Teppei a smile.

"I'll be looking forward to that one-on-one match, Onii-san!~" I called out to him before I left the room. Before I left, I saw him giving me what probably was the happiest smile he had given me yet.

When I got to the lobby, all I saw was a blur of purple before I was pulled into the most bone-crushing hug of my life.

"..Can't breathe!" I wheezed out to my giant friend who released me immediately.

"Artechin, I'm so sorry!" Atsushi said to me. I quickly waved aside his apology.

"It was an accident Atsu-kun~ it's not your fault" I told him.

However, on the way back to my house, the purple haired boy just wouldn't stop apologizing! It was driving me crazy!

"Atsu-kun, for the millionth time, IT WASNT YOUR FAULT!" I told him.

"It was! I'm so sorry Artechin! I know it was my fault because I can see you're mad at me~" he apologized for the millionth time.

"IM MAD BECAUSE YOU WONT STOP SAYING YOURE SORRY!" I shouted at him."Now, I'll say it for the last time. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. Atsushi. Now drop it" I told him, giving him my special death glare to make sure he got the message.

Atsushi nodded quickly and stopped apologizing. I sighed with relief at that and smiled when I saw we were finally in front of my house.

"Guess we'll have to postpone that one-on-one, Atsu-kun" I said to him, gesturing at my hands.

"Be careful Artechin~~" Atsushi told me, concern clear in his face.

I gave him a reassuring grin and said, "Don't worry so much Atsu-kun!~ I'll be alright!"

He nodded, still looking unconvinced, and said," Ja ne, Artechin!~" with his lazy smile.

"Ja ne Atsu-kun!~" I called out to him, walking into my house.

I put my keys down in the kitchen counter and walked toward the sink. Might as well do the dishes, I thought.

What I saw next surprised me.

The sink, and the rest of the kitchen I saw when I looked around carefully, was squeaky clean. All the dishes were washed and dried in the counter, the mess Atsushi and I had made making cookies was gone. In it's place, was a small plate with around 10 monstrously delicious cookies. Me and Atsushi had made about 20 and had been planing to split them.

On top sat a little note,

_Artechin,_

_Again, I'm sorry about what happened!_

_I left you these cookies, since we were planing to split them anyway~~_

_You're a good teacher, no one back in Teiko managed to try to teach me anything for more than 30 minutes before giving up~_

_I don't think we'll be going one-on-one anytime soon, but that's ok since I'll be facing strong opponents in my school basket team. Probably won't be hard to get in~_

_But, you gotta get better soon! I wanna play against you again._

_~Enjoy the cookies~_

_Ja ne~_

_Murasakibara Atsushi_

I smiled fondly at the letter. Honestly, that Atsushi could be sweet if he wanted to. Despite still being somewhat arrogant.

I kinda felt touched when I saw the cookies. Trust me, if you've ever seen Atsushi eat sweets, then you'd see he leaves behind no survivors. It kinda made me feel as if the giant purple haired boy had just acknowledged me as his friend.

With a goofy grin that would put Teppei-nii's to shame, I went toward the cookies and took a bite of one of them, relishing in its super-sweet flavor.

After eating the sweet cookies, I went to my room and called my parents and told them about my day, minus the 'hands-getting-burned-while-baking' part, of course. I didn't text my dad this time because, despite him being the more level headed parent, when it came to me being injured, he'd go into 'over protective dad' mode. And I was fine, my hands stung a little, but I'd be able to play just fine in a few more days.

When I thought about my hands, I immediately put on the cream the nurse had given me and changed the bandages in my hands. When I finished I went to my computer and smiled happily. ANIME TTIIMME~~

I still had 3 more days till the first day of school so I decided to watch anime for the rest of the day.

**Thanks again for reading! I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can!~**

**I really love Kyoshi~ I really wanted him to come I to the story~**

**Review replies~**

**1) Izzy2174- I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I'll be sure to update as soon as I can~ Thanks for your review :3**

**2)XxWhiteKeysxX- THANK YOU :3 Your review made me really happy :D yes I choose the name Artemis because of the Goddess of the Hunt. Your name is Artemis too? That's really cool!~ Thank you so much~~ I definitely will try my best with this story! I promise to update whenever I can :3 Thanks for the idea, now that I think about it, Bakagami does get no love-probably because he is Bakagami ;D I'm glad you're enjoying my story and I hope you continue to read. Thanks for your review :3**

**3) Kintoki Kin- Yes she is~ Wow, your idea is really interesting! Thank you so much for your idea! I hope you continue to read the story and that you like it so far~ Thanks for your review :3**

**4)AkimotoHaruka77- I'm sad to hear that you don't like the story so far, but I hope I can change your mind!~ I personally hate Mary sues, so I hope you can give me suggestions to make my oc a bit less of a Mary Sue. Right now I'm just practicing my writing, so thanks a lot for your review. Is there any improvements you would like to see in my story? The reason she was able to match up to Murasakibara will be explained later on in the story, since it does seem weird for a character to be able to match up against a strong member of the GOM in the beginning. There are a lot of things in the story that will be explained later on, so I understand your confusion~ Her looks and parents are actually based on a friend of mine-minus the really rich part. I hope you can come to enjoy the story, but Ill understand if you don't wish to read it anymore. Nevertheless, thank you for your review :3**


	4. First Day at Seirin!

**Chronicles of a Basketball Loving Redhead **

**Yo Minna!~**

**Chapter 4 is finally done~~ I really wanted to get to this part of the story, since I wanted to place the Basket team in the story already~~**

**So finally, Artemis goes to Seirin!~ **

**Thank you so much for all the people who've reviewed, favorite, and followed the story so far!~ I hope you like this next chapter :D**

**Hope you like it~**

**Please R&R**

**ENJOY~~**

The next two days were really uneventful. And this time I mean that.

I hadn't seen Atsushi since yesterday, guess he was getting ready for school or something.

All I did the following two days was play my new violin, unpacking the boxes I brought, and play basket.

Not really as exciting as the last two days, but I wasn't complaining. The only thing I did out of the ordinary was buy some fingerless gloves to help hide my burns/bandages. It made me feel a bit embarrassed. Being a basket player and having my hands bandaged.

**_~~~~First Day of School~~~_**

My eyes widened at the sight before me. Beautiful Sakura trees and blossoms gave the school a bright appearance. Students poured inside, friends calling out to each other, eagerly giving out exaggerated versions of what happened to them in the summer.

Senpais where standing on the sides, screaming out things like "JOIN OUR CLUB" while waving club posters at the new students.

I listened carefully as more and more 2nd years promoted their clubs. They had to have one here...

"BASKET! Join Basketball club!" I saw three guys waving posters at the freshmen. Two had raven hair, and one had brown hair and a cat-like face. I smiled brightly and maneuvered my way through the crowd and toward the boys and heard part of their conversation.

"You're not gonna do it, are you?" I hear the cat faced boy say to the taller of the two black haired boys.

I passed by a boy with bright blue hair who was reading a book and walked toward the three senpais.

"Ano.. I'd like to join" I said to the three 2nd years. They turned to face me immediately, smiles in place, but when they saw me, their eyes widened and their cheeks were dusted with pink. Weird...

One of the dark haired boys, one with dark gray eyes, scratched his cheeks, and smiled at me.

"It's a boy's basket team. Gomen" he said to me, looking apologetic.

I was disappointed for a moment before suddenly having an idea."Ano, senpai. Does the basket team have a manager?" I asked the guy.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head."We don't have a manager, but I think you should ask the Coach and Captain for the job" he said.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm Izuki Shun" Izuki said cheerfully, extending his hand out to me. Well, at least I knew one person in this school.

"Arashi Artemis~" I said, taking his hand and shaking it."Izuki-San, do you mind telling me where the Coach and Captain are? I want to ask them for the job right away" I said.

"Sure, this way" Izuki-san said, leading me to the side.

I heard the cat faced 2nd year mumble something before we left.

"Damn you Izuki, could've let me take the pretty girl to Riko"

We pushed our way through the crowd, walking toward two people sitting down in a desk with dejected looks on their faces. On was a pretty girl with short brown hair and eyes, and a guy with black hair and glasses. I heard them talking about not getting more than ten people to sign up before I walked in front of them.

"Hello Senpais~" I say to them with a friendly smile on my face.

They both slowly turn to face me. The guy with glasses looks surprised but the girl looks absolutely delighted. Wait.. What?

She fist bumped the air and said,"Thank you kami sama! Finally a girl shows up among the sea of idiotic boys~"

"Oi Riko, we resent that!" Glasses guy and Izuki said to the girl-Riko.

"Are you by any chance the Coach, Riko-Senpai?" I asked Riko, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Yosha!" I say, pumping my fist in the air like Riko had earlier, I just couldn't help it. "Riko-senpai is sugoi~"

Riko beamed at me for the compliment.

"You too, Arashi-San?" Izuki said, giving me a 'why this?' look.

"Sorry Izuki-San" I say sheepishly, remembering my reason for approaching the two, glasses boy who was probably the Captain and Riko, who had gained my respect for coaching a team of guys in what people said was a 'man's sport'

I turned to the two of them once again."Ano, gomen for getting sidetracked, but I wanted to ask if the basket team had a manager" I said, rubbing the back of my head.

Riko and glasses guy-what was his name anyway?- shook their heads and said,"Nope"

Riko looked at me with wide eyes, "You want to be the manager of the team?"

"Yes" I said, giving her a more serious look. I didn't notice Izuki praying in the back.

"Ok then~" Riko senpai said, taking out a paper, "fill out this paper and we'll come to you after school to tell you if you got the job"

I nodded and began filling out the long form, a few feet away from the desk, in case someone else wanted to sign up. While I was filling out the paper, I saw the blue haired boy from earlier take a form and begin to fill it out. Riko and the others didn't seem to notice. Weird.

I gave the blue haired boy and friendly grin when he walked past the desk and saw him give me a shocked look back. Was there something on my face?

Riko and the others seemed to be talking about the requirements they would need to get a bigger line of applicators for the team. I learned that glasses guy's name was Huyga.

Just when they were done with their conversation, the cat faced second year I had seen earlier being dragged to the booth by a guy _wayyy_ taller than he was. What's up with basketball players being impossibly tall?

This guy was the third tallest person I had seen since I got here. Was I fated to run into giants? The guy had dark red hair and _reeeally_ angry look in his eyes. I wondered briefly if he had anger management issues, when he rudely asked Riko if this was the basketball club. He sat down and began filling out the form after he cut Riko off in her explanation to him. Geez maybe he _did_ have anger management issues.

"Arè?" Riko exclaimed."You have no reason for joining?"

The red haired giant stood up."Basketball's the same wherever you go in Japan" he said, before striding off. I placed my paper down silently, wanting to head inside the school quickly.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~Riko and the others find Kuroko's Paper~~~~~~~~**_

"The first years this year are all crazy" Huyga declared.

"First that guy from America, then a guy from the Kiseki no Sedai" Izuki added.

"And don't forget we might get ourselves a manager this year too~" Riko added, happy at the thought of not being the only girl anymore.

"Yea~ we finally got a Kawaii manager~" Kogane said happily, stars in his eyes.

"This year is gonna be interesting" was the thought going through the 2nd years' mind.

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back to the story~~~~~~~~~~_**

I walked behind the redhead from before, and said, "**Geez, I wonder what's got him so angry**" in English, thinking the red head wouldn't understand.

"**Are you talking about me**?" I heard a rough voice ask me. I raised my head and found red eyes glaring at me. I hadn't noticed before, but he had double eyebrows, which gave him a 'forever scowling' face.

"You speak english?" I asked the guy in shock. Who knew?

"Yes I do. Were you talking about me before?" He asked again.

"Yup. You looked pretty mad back in the basket sign ups" I said without thinking. Damn it! Here I go blurting stuff out again.

The guy looked unconcerned with what I had just said and shrugged his shoulders."It's none of your business" he said bluntly.

I swear a vein popped out in my head. "I was just curious, geez, Mr. Angry" I say

"Oi don't call me that!" The guy snapped back at me.

"Well then, what's your name?" I ask him.

"Didn't you say you saw me at the sign ups?" He asked me, looking at me as if I was stupid.

"I wasn't exactly going out of my way just to look at your name, omai" I said, annoyed again.

The redhead rolled his his eyes at me before saying curtly."Kagami Taiga"

"I'm Arashi Artemis. Nice to meet you" I say to Kagami. "Don't bother with honorifics or suffixes, you don't seem like the person to use them" I added, again without thinking.

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean, Arashi?" Kagami demanded.

"Nothing~" I say, trying to avoid an argument. Two redheads arguing was not a pleasant sight. "See ya later, Tai-sorry, I mean Kagami" I say to him, walking away. Time to find my class, I guess.

On my way there, I spotted the teal haired boy from earlier walking in the same direction. When our eyes met, I gave him another friendly smile, but instead of walking away with a shocked look, the boy walked toward me with curiosity in his bright blue eyes.

"Ano" the boy said to me. He had a deep, monotone voice. "How are you able to see me, miss?"

I gave him a questioning look and said,"Well, I'm not exactly blind. I have good eyesight. And your hair is kinda easy to spot in a crowd"

This seem to confuse the boy, who kept his impassive face. "It's just that most people tend to overlook me" he explained.

"Well, I'm not exactly 'most people'" I say to the teal haired teen."I'm Arashi Artemis, by the way" I added.

"Kuroko Tetsuya" the boy replied with his monotone voice. The name seemed familiar to me, but for some reason, I couldn't place it.

"Nice to meet you, Kuroko Tetsuya" I say. "Both names sound too long you know. Mind if I call you Suya, instead?"

Tetsuya shrugged."I do not mind" he said. I think I just made my first official friend in this school. Taiga didn't count because he was unfriendly.

"I saw you sign up for basket" I say to Tetsuya. "Do you like playing basketball?" I ask him curiously. He didn't seem the basketball type but I learned long ago never to judge someone based on appearance.

"Hai" Tetsuya replied. I noticed he never actually smiled. He was just like the silent character in an anime!~

"We should play one-on-one sometime!" I suggest happily as we walk inside the classroom.

Tetsuya sits down in the back beside the window and I take the seat next to him."You play basket too?" He asked, sounding surprised."I thought you were applying for manager" he amended. At least he was more polite than Atsushi.

"Well, I wanted to see if the school allowed the girls to play" I explained. "My old school had mixed gender teams. So when I found out it only had a guys basket team, I picked the next best thing: being manager"

I noticed my fellow redhead out of the corner of my eye. Kagami had decided to take the seat in front of Suya.

Tetsuya listened attentively to my explanation. "So I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot if I get accepted" Tetsuya said.

I nodded. "This year will be fun~" I said, smiling.

-SKIP TO THE TIME THE TEAM AND FIRST YEARS GATHER IN THE GYM-

I had run into three of the senpais-the cat faced one who's name is Kogane, the tall black haired one I had seen before who was named Mitobe, and Izuki- on my way to lunch and had asked them if I could come to the basketball team meeting today.

"Well, I don't think Riko would mind if you came to watch" Izuki said.

Kogane walked toward me and said, "Ano.. We weren't exactly told your name..."

I gave him a small smile and said, "I'm Arashi Artemis~"

Kogane senpai nodded and the three led the way to the gym, where the first years were already lined up.

I immediately looked for my new friend and found him at the end of the line of freshmen, next to the angry redhead, Kagami Taiga, who looked as terribly angry as before. I gave Suya a small smile and walked behind Riko and next to an elderly man in a chair.

"Takeda-Sensei, right?" I asked the elderly man as I walked beside him. He slowly nodded his head.

I turned back to look at the line of freshmen, who had all called out in shock when they found out Riko was the coach and not the manager of the team. _Go Riko!_ I thought, smiling slightly.

I looked over at Tetsuya to see what his reaction to having a female coach was. I was slightly disappointed. He still kept his usual non expressive face. Heh, I guess the gender of the coach didn't mean much to him, which earned him her respect. Kagami seemed indifferent to the whole thing. He was cool in her book as well.

"Now take off your shirts!" Riko ordered, which didn't seem to sit well with the rest of the first years. With the exception of Tetsuya and Kagami, the freshmen were loudly complaining about having to removed their shirts.

However, a little persuasion from Huyga-Senpai seemed to changer their minds. I averted my eyes as the guys removed their shirts. But I also peeked. You couldn't really blame me right? I was a teenage girl after all!

Riko senpai started walking in front of the guys, observing their torsos and legs sharply and giving out advice or merely stating a certain weakness. No way! Did she have the ability to see physical stats too?

I heard Huyga senpai's brief explanation to the guys about Riko's abilities. So she was able to scan a person's physical abilities by just looking at them? That was a cool ability.

She suddenly stopped her long stream of advice to the freshmen when she stopped in front of Kagami. I couldn't blame her. I could also see that Kagami's stats were far higher than any of the other guy's. No first year should have such high stats! This guy was a monster...

'Good thing he's on the team' I thought. I couldn't wait to see this guy play~

I waited for her to notice Suya, who was right next to Kagami and had yet to take off his own shirt. Maybe due to embarrassment?

"Well that's everyone! ..wait, is Kuroko-kun here?" I heard Riko senpai ask.

I raised my eyebrows at her. She couldn't see him? Why wouldn't sh-. Oh, now I understand why Tetsuya said he was overlooked. He had a very weak presence. I bet if I didn't have my observation abilities, I wouldn't have been able to spot him either...

"Ano. I am Kuroko" Tetsuya said, calling Riko's attention and managing to make her, and the rest of the team jump.

"W-waah!" Riko senpai shrieked. "When did you-" she began to ask

"I was here the entire time" Suya told her.

I called out as well."It's true Riko Senpai! I saw him when I came in"

"No way! He was here this whole time?!" Riko asked me. I nodded.

"Anyway, take off your shirt" Riko said to Kuroko, who removed his shirt without any qualms, guess I was wrong about the embarrassment thing.

His stats were beyond low, I realized. Why would he want to play basket, if he was in that condition? But yet, I couldn't help but think that this wasn't all there was to Tetsuya. Call it my more perceptive side.

Riko took one look at Tetsuya and her eyes widened in shock.

"Wow, is he the guy from the Kiseki no Sedai?" I hear Kogane Senpai whisper to Mitobe senpai.

Wait. Kiseki no Sedai?!

Suddenly, it all clicked into place.

I knew I had heard his name before. He was the 'Kuro-chin' that Atsushi had told me about! The guy in his team people tended to overlook, the guy with no presence. I finally understood what Atsushi meant by no presence. But why would a Kiseki no Sedai member go to a school like Serin?! And wasn't he the Phantom Sixth Man of the GOM? Did that mean he had some kind of ability?

I had made a curious friend indeed.

Soon after Riko had looked over all the freshmen, and had eliminated the few who didn't make the cut, only Riko, the 2nd year players, Kagami, Suya, a guy named Furihata, another named Fukuda, and Kawahara.

The team was soon dismissed and I walked toward Riko.

"Ano, Riko-senpai, have you made a decision?" I asked her.

She smiled widely at me and said,"Welcome to Serin High School's Basketball team!"

I gave her a huge smile. She placed a hand on my shoulder and said,"Thank Kami Sama I'm no longer the only girl in the team!"

"Well it won't be long till we have fan girls on our team's trail Senpai. We're gonna be the Number One team, after all" I say with a wise look. Riko stares at me before smiling softly and then bursting into laughter.

"I can't imaging Huyga or any of the second years with fan girls!" Riko said in between laughs. I giggled at the thought of the rather violent captain being chased by a swarm of fan girls.

"Well, Ja ne, Riko senpai!~" I say, waving back at her.

"See ya Arashi-chan~"

I made my way inside a park close to the school and retrieve my basketball from my bag. After that exciting first day, I wanted to play, if only for a while.

I went through all of my drills and was putting away my things when I heard a familiar voice.

"You've got no talent for basketball" the voice said. It was Kagami talking to Tetsuya! Tetsuya looked sweaty and out of breath, whilst Kagami only had small beads of sweat in his brows. Had they been playing a one-on-one? Why was Kagami saying that?!

"I don't accept that" Suya said before Kagami could walk away.

"First of all, I love basket. And I don't share your opinion. I don't care who's strong and who's weak" he added.

"What did you say?" Kagami asked him.

"I'm not like you" Tetsuya said."I'm a shadow"

Both boys left soon after that. I was suddenly thinking very hard about what Suya said. A shadow? Phantom sixth man. No presence. Low stats, yet he was part of the GOM. All four of those things had to tie together somehow. Why would Tetsuya play with a famous group of basketball players, if he wasn't good?

A special ability. Something to do with his lack of presence? That would explain the 'Phantom' part of his nickname.

"Kuroko Tetsuya. You've got something up your sleeve" I whispered. Since we were now on the same team, it would only be a matter of time for me to learn about Suya's special abilities.

Maybe _I_ should confide mine as well...

I shook my head. Time to get home I thought. I bought some fast food at Maji Burger and left for Akita.

**There you go!~**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If there are any improvements you think I should make in the story, just tell me ~**

**Ja ne~**


	5. The Light, The Shadow and The Hunter

**_YO MINNA-SAN!~_**

**_CHAPTER 5 IS FINALLY HERE! SORRY I TOOK A LITTLE LONG WITH THIS CHAPTER~_**

**_SO BECAUSE A FEW PEOPLE SUGGESTED IT, I WILL ATTEMPT TO MAKE THIS CHAPTER A LITTLE OCXKAGAMI~~_**

**_What kind of quirks should Artemis have? I have a few thought out but I want to know if you guys have any ideas! All suggestions are welcomed~~_**

**_No Murasakibara in this chapter (Gomen)_**

**_If you have any suggestions, ideas, or thoughts about the story in general, please tell me!~_**

**_PLEASE R&R~_**

**_ENJOY~~~_**

Throughout classes today, I couldn't focus on the lectures. My mind was more focused on the boy sitting to my right.

I think I finally figured out his ability.

The fact that it took me nearly a day and a half to figure it out was a blow to my pride. I considered myself a good strategist but when it came to Tetsuya's ability, I was at a blank.

My pride dropped even more when I figured it out. It was simple really.

He used his lack of presence to make passes to his teammates. A great ability too, being able to steal the ball from opponents, basically being invisible. I wonder what were the risks of such technique.

On my way out of my last class, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning quickly, I saw Mitobe-Senpai behind me.

He pointed his thumb behind him, where Huyga and Kogane were talking to some of the other 2nd years.

I looked at Mitobe-senpai and asked, "We're having a mini game?"

The silent 2nd year only nodded at my question. I smiled, excited. Finally, I'd be able to see just how good the senpais were, and just how good Kagami and the rest of the freshmen were.

After class, I quickly walked over to the gym. '_Seems all the players are already here_' I thought. Everyone was gathered around the court, the 1st years with shock on their faces.

"A mini game?" One of them asked.

"I can't believe we're facing the upperclassmen already" another added.

"They went to the finals just in their first year!" One said, with obvious fear.

I sighed, if they were giving up already, then they wouldn't be much of a match against the prodigy schools.

"That's not normal" Furihata said. I facepalmed.

"There's nothing to be afraid of" a confident voice said. I looked up and saw Kagami smirking slightly.

"It's always better to have strong opponents than weak ones" he kept on. Hmph, seems we think alike.

"Let's go" Kagami said, walking forward with utmost confidence.

I smirked. "Looks like this will be an interesting game" I say to Riko, who stood beside me.

"Let's see how long these rookies will last~" Riko told me, confident about the 2nd year's abilities.

I hmphed. "These rookies might just surprise you" I say. I wasn't about to let my fellow freshmen be looked down upon.

"Oh~ Feeling confident, Arashi-chan?" Riko said, an evil look in her eyes. "How about a bet then?"

I gulped involuntarily. "A bet?"

Riko nodded, smile in place. "If you guys win, the 2nd years will treat you to lunch for a week. If we win, you guys have to buy our lunch for a week. The losing team will have double the training for a week. If the first years loose, you can join them~" Riko said, evil aura coming off.

I smiled, confident. "It's a bet" I say and walk over to Kagami.

"You guys better win" I say to him. He looked at me, surprised.

"Why are you here?" He asked. I gave him an 'are-you-stupid?' stare.

"I'm the manager" I said, annoyed.

Kagami rubbed the back of his head. If I didn't know better, I would've said he looked _embarrassed_. "Well, I don't want to loose" he told me. Was that a tint of red on his cheeks? Nah...

I nodded, slightly more relieved. I then walked over to Tetsuya.

"Hey Suya~" I say to him once I reached him.

"Hello Arashi-San" he said, his voice as monotone as always.

"Do your best Suya~" I say to my blue haired friend. "The team will need to see what their new shadow can do after all" I added, giving his shocked face a small smile.

I jogged back to the bench. Next to me, Riko smirked. "Getting cold feet?" She asked teasingly.

I smiled back. "Nope. My feet are quite warm actually" I say sarcastically.

There was a reason I wasn't worried about the freshmen being able to beat the upperclassmen. Despite the 2nd years having some above average stats, Kagami had more than the rest of the first years combined. In the area of raw talent and destructive power, Kagami could crush anyone on the court.

Tetsuya, on the other hand, did not have such high stats. The opposite actually. Yet despite having way below average stats, his talent with passes and his 'invisibility' would definitely give the 1st years an advantage.

The combined abilities of Tetsuya and Kagami would definitely give the 2nd years trouble. I hid a smirk. The best part was that they had no idea.

They would obviously target Kagami because of his he height and stats, but they would also underestimate Suya due to his low stats, which would make it easier for him to get around them.

This would be an interesting match indeed. Although, if the second years played seriously from the start, the 1st years wouldn't be able to score.

Riko blew her whistle and launched the ball in the air. Mitobe and Kagami quickly jumped after it, but due to Kagami's height, he was able to pass the ball to Kawahara. The senpais stood in front of all first years, yet Kagami stood tallest. Kawahara threw the ball in the air, toward Kagami's large hand.

Kagami turned his body around quickly, running toward the basket.

He jumped high in the air, his eyes containing the intensity of a tiger. He dunked the ball in the hoop with an amazing show of strength, causing Mitobe-senpai to fall to the ground.

I rolled my eyes at the display. Such a show off, that Kagami.

"That dunk was unbelievable" Kawahara said, eyes wide with awe.

"Amazing.." Furihata added.

I turned to my right and spot Riko's amazed eyes. I raised an eyebrow at her, smirking. She really had underestimated the first years. She turned to the side quickly, when she noticed my amused expression.

The first quarter consisted of Kagami's amazing dunks. By the time Riko blew her whistle, the score was 11-8, first years leading.

"I can't believe the first years are this strong" I heard Huyga say.

"Kagami's doing it all himself!" I hear Kogane reply. I frowned at that. Someone obviously needed to teach that Baka that basket was a team sport.

I raised an eyebrow when I saw Kagami's glare harshen. I looked to my left and frowned again once I saw who he was glaring at.

It was Suya, who now had the ball stolen from him once again by Mitobe senpai. What was he doing? Why wasn't he showing the team his 'shadow' ability?

"Keep it together!" I hear one of the first years shout. Kagami quickly took off to the basket, smacking the ball out of Mitobe's hand before he could dunk it in.

"So high.." One of the first year trio said, again, with awe.

"Nothing can stop Kagami now!"

I narrowed my eyes. They couldn't expect Kagami to take on all of the 2nd years, could they? The senpais were no longer underestimating them, it seemed.

"Time to put them in their place" Huyga said with a smirk. Oh shit, looks like the 2nd years are starting to take the game seriously.

"It's on" Izuki added.

My eyes widened when I saw what the senpais we're planing. Izuki, Huyga, and  
Kogane had formed a circle around Kagami, preventing him from moving at all. A three?! Were they serious?

They were even double-teaming him when he didn't have the ball! A good defense plan, I thought. They had no intention of letting him have the ball.

The flow of the game changed in the senpai's favor. The score quickly became 31-15. The gap kept growing wider.

"They're good after all" one of the 1st year trio said.

"There's no way we could've beaten them"

"I've had enough" Furihata said, panting

Kagami grabbed the front of Furihata's shirt and shouted, "Enough?!what the hell are you talking about?!"

I sighed. Nice way of raising morale, Kagami. I made my way over to the 1st years.

Suddenly, Kagami bent over and dropped Furihata. Suya stood behind him with his knees bent. I stifled a laugh. Suya was the best at calming Kagami down, it seemed.

"Please calm down" Tetsuya requested.

Kagami turned to him slowly, dark aura surrounding him. "You bastard..."

While the rest of the first years cowered in fear, I walked up to Kagami and bashed him on the head, which I've been wanting to do for a while now.

"Ita! What the hell are you doing, Arashi?!" He shouted at me.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Trying to get you to calm down. Now be quiet. I think Furihata just wet himself" I say, giving the redhead a glare. He gulped.

I turned to Tetsuya. "Now, when are you going to get serious? The senpais are whipping our asses, you know?" I whisper.

"Arashi-San, please refrain from cursing" Tetsuya asked. I rolled my eyes.

"As long as you play seriously" I retorted.

"Good luck!" I say to them as I walk away.

Riko quickly blew her whistle and the game began once more. This time, I payed extra attention to Suya, who was adjusting his wristbands.

"Excuse me" he said to Fukuda. "Could you pass me the ball?"

Fukuda looked incredulous at first, but when cornered by one of the 2nd years, he threw the ball over to Tetsuya. I smiled widely. The real game begins now.

Suddenly, the ball appeared in the air, near the basket. A bewildered Furihata caught it and shot the ball into the hoop.

'_Nice, Suya_!' I thought, flashing the teal haired boy a grin and thumbs up.

The senpais, however, were still in shock.

"It went...what?" Huyga said, looking shocked. "How did that pass go through?"

Riko stood, eyes wide and uneasy. She looked over at Tetsuya and her eyes widened further. '_She noticed_' I thought.

In the next few minutes, the ball practically flew across the court. The 1st years were as shocked as the senpais when the ball suddenly flew to their hands.

The only ones who seemed to notice who the passes came from were Kagami and Riko.

I walked over to Riko, who kept looking at the court with growing realization.

"The phantom sixth man of the kiseki no Sedai is in a league of his own, huh?" I asked the shocked coach, who jumped when she heard my voice.

"Y-you knew, Arashi-chan?" She asked me, shocked.

"I only figured his ability out this morning. But I knew who he was during the meeting yesterday" I explained. I gave her a huge grin.

"Guess the senpais better prepare their wallets. I'm a hungry girl" I say with a sadistic grin. I **_reeeally_** hated being underestimated.

The game kept getting more and more tense, as the gap between the scores of the 2nd and 1st years kept decreasing. 37-36.

Suddenly, Tetsuya ran to the basket, ball in hand and only a few minutes left on the clock. I crossed my fingers.

"Go KUROKO!" The first years shouted.

Suya shot the ball to the hoop. Only for it to hit the rim and bounce back.

My eyes widened and my breath hitched. Only to sigh in relief when Kagami caught the ball and dunked it.

"That's why I hate the weak. You gotta make the shot, dumbass!" He shouted at Suya, who had a small grin.

"YOSHA!" I shouted when the timer went off. The 1st years had won!

I ran to Tetsuya and clapped him on the back.

"That was amazing!" I say to him, beaming smile in place.

He remained silent, panting yet with a triumphant look on his face. He gave me his small smile.

"Oi, what about me, Arashi?" I hear a rough voice ask me. I turned to face Kagami, who shifted under my gaze.

I smiled when I saw how he looked at me expectantly. "You were ok I guess" I say with a false sigh. I saw him grimace and felt a large hand squeeze my head. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"Ok, huh?" I heard the idiot mumble.

"Kagami-kun, I think you should let go" I hear Suya's voice say. Then something would happen that would end up in the history books.

"Oi oi, hanase, **_BAKAGAMI_**!" I shouted at the idiot, not knowing I would be the one to invent the most famous nickname in all Seirin history. The senpais and first years all laughed their heads off at the nickname.

Once the idiot had kindly (*cough*not*cough*) released my head, I gave him a smile and said, "Maybe you weren't that bad. Though you need to work on your anger management issues"

I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Riko behind me with a grimace on her face.

"I guess I lost that bet" she said. I gave her a huge grin.

"You can ask the boys what they want for lunch later, I'll give you my list tomorrow" I say, causing the Senpais behind Riko to sag their shoulders. **_List_**?!

"Huh? What are you guys talking about?" Kagami asked us.

I gave him a wide smile and turned to the rest of the 1st years.

"I made a bet with Riko-senpai at the beginning of the game. Since we won, the senpais are going to be buying us lunch for a week~" I explain happily.

The first years all looked surprised before pumping their fists in joy.

"YOSHA!" They all cheered.

"Ano, Arashi-San" I heard Suya's quiet voice from behind me. "How did you know we would win? Our senpais have more experience after all" he asked.

Kagami and Tetsuya both turned to me while the rest of the 1st years continued cheering.

I smiled at them. "I believed in you guys" I say truthfully. "You're pretty strong. With Suya's misdirection and Kagami's raw power, the 1st years had a bigger chance of winning"

Kagami gave me a wide smirk and Suya gave me his small smile. Guess they liked being complimented.

"I'd love to play against you one day" I added, as we walked out of the gym.

"Huh? No way, you play basket?" Kagami asked me in shock.

I glared at him,"I sure do" I said. I looked at Tetsuya. "Thank god I have at least one friend who doesn't judge me cuz I'm a girl" I say, giving the guy a smile.

"Oi, oi! I didn't mean it like that!" Bakagami protested. "I don't care if you're a girl! I was just surprised!" He looked genuinely surprised to hear that I played basket. And was that a small smile I saw on his face?

"Yeah yeah, bakagami" I say, waving off his apology. I didn't want him to see me observing him. I could've sworn Suya snickered at the nickname.

"And what's with that nickname?!" I heard him say as he and Tetsuya entered the locker rooms to change.

I grabbed my bag and waved at Riko.

"Janė Riko-senpai!~"

"Janè, Arashi-chan!"

~~~~~~~~~Few minutes Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood outside the school, thinking about where I should go to next.

_'Well, I don't wanna head home now_' I thought. '_Maybe I should go eat?'_

I checked my pockets for cash and saw I had enough for both traveling and for a nice meal. Smiling, I made my way over to Maji burger.

I ordered a burger, fries and a vanilla shake and sat down by the middle of the restaurant.

((**Enough for three people to sit down. Not next to the window like in cannon**))

I had finished my burger and had eaten some of my fries when I heard a familiar voice.

"Arashi-San?" It was Suya.

"Oh? Hi Suya" I say and gesture to the seat next to me. Tetsuya walked toward me-although a bit hesitant- and sat down across from me. I didn't ask how he spotted me, since my hair was obviously hard to overlook. He was wearing his school uniform and had a shake in his hand.

"Are? You like vanilla shakes too?" I asked him, once I noticed the small cup.

"Hai. They are very good" he said. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Sorry about bothering you" he said suddenly. "There weren't any seats left so I-"

I interrupted him. "It's ok, Suya" I say. "We're friends, remember?"

_'Or at least I consider you a friend_' I thought. I could never be too sure with the blue he aired boy.

He gave me one of his small, barely there, smiles and nodded.

Just then, I felt myself being shoved out of my seat by a massive weight. I landed a few feet from where I had been sitting. My vanilla shake spilled in the floor

Oh. Hell. No.

I picked myself off the floor, ready to beat the shit out of whoever pushed me and ruined my shake.

The rage of a red head was not something to take lightly. Especially when you mess with her favorite dessert.

It was bakagami. I should have known. He seemed to just notice Suya as well.

"Arashi-San is going to be angry when she comes back" I hear Tetsuya mumble.

"Arashi? She's here too?" The idiot asked, looking strangely happy about it.

"**And she's pretty fuckin pissed too, Bakagami**" I say in English from behind him. I see him stiffen and slowly turn to me.

"**Now, mind telling why you fucking pushed me off my seat**?" I asked him, beyond mad.

"A-Arashi, calm down" Kagami told me, sweating bullets. Tetsuya silently prayed for his soul.

"Bakagami-teme! Watch where you fucking go next time!" I said to him, still angry.

"People are beginning to stare, Arashi-San" Suya said, trying to stop the murder.

I glare at him and say four words.

"He. Spilled. My. Shake"

Tetsuya's eyes widened in understanding. He looked at Kagami and said, "Buy her a shake. Quickly"

Kagami was, of course, completely confused by what was going on around him. "What are yo-"

"Get her a vanilla shake. Before she kills you" Tetsuya said once again.

Kagami gulped and ran back to the line. Minutes later, he came back with a vanilla shake to find a slightly more calm Artemis.

"Here" he said cautiously to the redhead, who took the shake with a smile.

"Arigatou~" Artemis said to the idiot redhead, who inched away from her.

"Anyway, what are you guys doing here?" Kagami said, looking around fleetingly. "People might think we're friends. You should move somewhere else" he added

"We were here first, Bakagami. We don't want to move" I said, rolling my eyes.

"And me and Arashi-San are friends" Tetsuya added, I beamed at him.

Kagami rolled his eyes at us and handed us each one burger from the pile he had bought earlier.

"Here" he said when we looked at him with surprise.

"I don't like guys who suck at basketball, but you've earned yourself one of those" he said to Suya, smiling slightly, before turning to me. "And that's for believing in us" he added, looking away quickly. Was he blushing?!

"Thanks" Tetsuya said.

I smiled at him when he turned back to face us. "Are you sure it was just that or was it because you couldn't finish that mountain of burgers without help?" I teased. Kagami rolled his eyes at me again and began eating his food.

We all ate in silence. Strangely it wasn't awkward, but nice. I smiled again. _This could be the start of a great friendship_, I thought as I looked at the boys beside me.

When we finished, we all walked aimlessly for a while. Tetsuya in the middle, Kagami on the left and me on the right. Everything was quiet before Kagami asked, "Just how strong is the Generation of Miracles? If I played them now, how would I do?"

Tetsuya instantly replied. "You'd be destroyed instantly" causing Kagami to frown. I laughed.

"Did you have to put it like that?" Kagami asked.

"Don't hold it against him. He's pretty blunt" I say.

"The five prodigies have each gone on to play for their own schools. One of those schools will stand at the top" Tetsuya continued, ignoring Kagami's question and sipped on his shake.

Kagami laughed-more like cackled- at that. "That's great" he said. "That's the kind of thing that lights a fire in me"

"I've decided. I'm going to crush them all and become Japan's best player" he said with a determined face.

I hid a smile when Tetsuya added,"I don't think that's possible" causing Kagami to saying "hey!" But he continued. "If you have some hidden talent, I wouldn't know. But from what I've seen, you wouldn't even reach their feet"

I nodded, thinking about Atsushi.

"You can't do it alone" Tetsuya said. He jumped onto the sidewalk and turn to Kagami. "I've also decided. I'm a shadow. But the stronger the light, the darker the shadow. I will be the shadow to your light and make you the best player in Japan" he said seriously.

I sighed, causing the two of them to look at me. I smiled at Kagami.

"It's _mendokuse_, but I'll help out too~" I say. "I'll support the light and the shadow in whatever way I can and help you become the best in Japan" I promised.

Kagami's eyes widened but he closed them and smirked. "Do whatever you want"

Tetsuya smiled. "I'll do my best"

I nodded. "Well, I can't let Suya do all the work"

After we made our promises (and exchanged numbers) we each went our separate ways. I groaned when I saw how late it was and just took a cab home.

~~~~~~~~Next~~~~~Morning~~~~~~

I woke up this morning, feeling refreshed. It was a Sunday so I didn't have school nor basket practice.

I smiled as I remembered what had happened between me and my two friends. Yup, Kagami Taiga was now my friend. Despite being hot-headed and an extreme Baka, the guy wasn't that bad.

Since I needed to head to the market once again, I changed into my warmer clothe-a black long sleeve shirt and thick blue jeans- after I finished with my morning rituals and put on my snow boots. It had snowed again in Akita and I couldn't wait to see how much snow piled up.

After picking up and buying the items I needed, I went home and placed the bags in the kitchen. After putting away the food, I put my coat on once again and head outside. I really wanted to see how much snow was in the park near my house. I wasn't really expecting anyone to be there at this time-and because of the weather- but I saw a girl with bubble gum pink that reached the top of her back, a pale-pink pink complexion and sky blue eyes looking at the snow with wonder.

She wore a long black coat, black jeans, and black boots. She had a looong dark pink scarf and wore large black headphones.

The most interesting thing about the girl? She was holding a large black bag over her shoulder and was munching on a chocolate bar.

I ran to the girl and tackle hugged her. Why? She was one of my friends from back in America!

I think I should explain things a bit. The girl's name was Hiroki Natsumi, one of my best friends back in America. We'd met each other playing street ball back in L.A, and she had been the one to teach me how to bake. She, like most of my other middle school friends, had moved away.

"Oi, oi! Who the hell are y- Artemis?!" Natsumi asked, shock showing on her usually impassive face.

"Natsumi!~" I say to her as we both stand up. I take a good look at her and feel slightly sad when I noticed she's inches taller than me now.

"You've gotten shorter~" Natsumi teased.

I rolled my eyes and pouted. "No, you just got taller" I say

"What are you doing here in Japan?" She asked

"Going to school"

"No way! You go to Yosen?!" She asks, surprised.

I shake my head, and her eyes drop. "I go to Seirin" I say cheerfully.

"I didn't expect to run into you here" she says, shaking her head.

"Me either! I haven't seen you since 7th grade!"

"How are the others?" She asks me

I shrugged. "Don't know. They all moved after you left" I say sadly.

"Huh? No way! I haven't run into them here in Japan, though" she says.

"I don't think they're in Japan, Natsu" I say.

"Are you here by yourself? I'd be nice to see Mr. Arashi again. He used to make the best pies~" Natsumi said with a smile.

I rolled my eyes at my friend. "Only you would remember that, Natsu. I'm here by myself. Dad and mother are still in America. You?"

"Here with my dad, mom went to Europe for some baking competitions" she replied. Natsumi's phone began to ring. A text from her dad.

"Sorry Artemis. Gotta go. Dad needs my help back home" she said sadly.

"Meet you here again someday, Kay?" I asked and she nods.

We say our goodbyes and I head home, happy to have seen one of my best friends once more.

**SO HERE YA GO~**

**New Oc comes into the story! What do you think about her? If you would like to see a picture of how she looks like, please check my profile~~**

**Sorry if her interactions with Artemis seem kinda rushed, I'm lazy and out of imagination at this time :( **

**Did you like the interactions between Kagami-Kuroko-Artemis?**

**So far, these are the votes for who ends up with Artemis:**

**Kagami-2**

**Aomine-1**

**Murasakibara-1**

**Akashi-1**

**Kuroko-0**

**Oc-0**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THERE IS A SPECIFIC CHARACTER YOU WANT ARTEMIS TO END UP WITH!**

**HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER~~**

**JA NE~**


	6. Ambitions, Ninjas, and a New Rival

**Chronicles of a Basketball Loving Redhead**

**Yo Minna-sama~~~~**

**Ive finally finished chapter 6!~**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED AND FOLLOWED AND FAVORITE THE STORY! YOU GUYS MAKE MY DAY ~(^.^)~**

**This chapter's reeeeally long, so it took me a while to write. I hope you guys like it~**

**There is a little Murasakibara in this chapter!~**

**And Kise Ryota finally joins the fray!~**

**Remember to vote for the character you want Artemis to end up with!~**

**Also, if you have any ideas, thoughts, or suggestions for the story, I'm always here to read them~~~**

**~~~~~PLEASE R&R~~~~~**

**~~~~~ENJOY~~~~~ **

The week that followed was pretty normal.

Or as normal as life can be as the manager of Seirin's basket team.

I no longer had to wear bandages in my hands because the burnt marks were finally cleared, thank god!

Early in the morning, right after 2nd period, I spotted Suya making his way to the 2nd years class with a determined look. Being curious, I walked toward him and saw him head into a classroom.

I peeked inside just in time to see Riko spit out her milk. _Tetsuya probably scared her again_, I thought. He sure seems fond of doing that to people.

He asked if he could become an official player. Apparently, he needed to fill out a form and hand it to Riko in order to play in any games. In the middle of their conversation, I walked next to Tetsuya.

"Ohayo, Riko-senpai~" I say brightly. I give Tetsuya a small smile and asked Riko, "Ano, senpai, do I need one of those forms?"

She looked like she would decline for a moment before suddenly smiling sinisterly and nodding her head. "Yup~ Here's your form, Arashi~chan" she said, a bit _too cheerfully_. Something was going on here...

I took my form and was about to leave with Tetsuya, when Riko called us back. "I'll only accept the forms on Monday. At 8:45, on the rooftop!"

Now, I was even more suspicious. Didn't we have an assembly on Monday? And why the _rooftop_?

Well, whatever Riko had in mind, I would do. There's no way I'd be staying behind while Suya and Bakagami got to play in official games. I made a promise to both of them, after all.

"Do you think Kagami-kun knows about this?" Tetsuya asked me as we were heading back.

I shook my head. "Knowing his Baka tendencies? I doubt it. Let's go find him" I say, tilting my head slightly.

Tetsuya nodded. We then began to search for him, which didn't take long. He was talking to Huyga-senpai about becoming an official member. He then ran over to Riko's classroom.

I turned to Tetsuya. "Guess we don't need to tell him anymore" I say with a shrug. "What do you think Riko senpai will say to him?"

"Probably something about us being overeager" Suya answered back. We both wandered around the school, since we both had a free period.

A few minutes later, we turned a corner and spotted Kagami looking at some poster in the hallway. Being the sneaky ninjas we are, Suya and I walked behind Kagami. Tetsuya, with his lack of presence, was able to just waltz next to Kagami without him noticing.

I had to stand behind Kagami, who was too focused on the poster to notice. I glared at Suya. He had it lucky. Being a natural born ninja.

The poster Kagami had been looking at was a poster of the Basket team, back when it was formed last year. They were strong, they had made it to the finals despite being a new team...

As if reading my mind, Kagami said, "He wasn't kidding"

Tetsuya-bless his devious mind-choose that moment to reveal his presence. "Yes. They are strong"

Kagami turned and saw Tetsuya beside him. His response was too funny! He jumped about a foot in the air, eyes wide. He looked like a little kid in a horror movie. After he got over his near heart-attack, he began shouting at Tetsuya.

"Why can't you show up normally?! Stop coming out of nowhere!"

Suya kept his poker face and shushed the enraged Kagami. He pointed a finger upward, at the library sign.

Kagami placed one of his enormous hands on Suya's head. "You're making fun of me aren't you?!" I had to intervene. Ok, maybe I just wanted to scare Kagami, but I had to save Suya as well.

"And I thought we taught you better Bakagami, makiNGO noise in front if the library. Tch" I say from behind him in a scary voice. Once again, he jumped about a foot in the air, the expression of a little kid watching a horror movie again on his face.

"Arashi?! Where the hell did _you_ come from?! You're just like Kuroko!" He shouted.

I shushed him like Tetsuya did, and pointed at the library sign. I had kept up my poker face pretty well for someone who wanted to laugh their ass off.

Kagami pointed a shaky finger at me. "You're _turning_ into Kuroko!" He accused.

I put a hand on Suya's shoulder. "He is indeed a great Sensei on the way of the ninja~" I say wisely. Kagami raised his double eyebrows at me. Tetsuya, on the other hand, looked honored. His eyes even shone!

Kagami shook his head. He had a contemplating look on his face for a moment, like if he was thinking about something..

Tetsuya suddenly winked at me, the sudden mischievous look once again flashing in his eyes. I smiled and began to slowly walk away from Kagami before breaking into a sprint and getting to the second floor.

I managed to hear Kagami saying, "Hey Kuroko.." before he started yelling.

"Huh?! Where did he go?! And Arashi too?! What's up with those two?"

I couldn't keep my poker face and burst out laughing. I turned and saw Suya behind me with his small smile in place.

"Nice, Suya!" I say after I finished laughing.

"I feel sorry about Kagami-kun" he said, looking behind him. I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Rule number one of pranking; _Never_ feel sorry about a harmless prank~" I told him cheerfully.

Tetsuya rolled his eyes at me but smiled. It was going to be fun, teaching Suya to be a prankster.

~~~Skip to Monday on the roof~~~

The wind blew wildly as the other first year basket players and I stared at Riko.

She stood with her hands at her hips, smile in place. Then she began to laugh evilly when she saw us.

"I've been waiting for you~" she said.

Kagami stared at her with a sweat drop. "Are you stupid?" He asked.

"Is this a duel?" Tetsuya asked in the back.

"Perfect way to read the mood Suya. Watch your back we don't know what she's planning" I whisper back to him.

Kagami rolled his eyes and said, "I forgot all about it, but Monday.. The morning assembly is in five minutes!"

He took out his application and waved it at Riko. "Hurry up and take it!"

Riko made no move toward the paper.

"Before that, let me tell you something" she began to say.

"I made a promise when the captain asked me to be his coach last year. I promised to focus solely on pushing the team toward the national championships. If you don't think you're ready for that, then there are other clubs better suited to you"

Kagami interrupted. "What? Of course I'm-"

"I know you're strong" Riko continued "But I need to that you have something more important. No matter how hard you practice, 'someday' and 'maybe' aren't good enough. I need to know you have ambitious goals, and the will to accomplish them"

She then gestured to the crowd. "Give me you year, class, and name. Announce your goals here and now. If you fail to achieve them, you will come back here, strip naked, and confess your feelings for the girl you love" she said, giving us her evil smile.

The freshman trio, of course, reacted badly to this. Tetsuya and Kagami looked indifferent. Well, maybe it was a trick of the light, but I could've sworn I saw them both blush for a second...

"All the second years did this last year" Riko told us. I silently commended them all for their bravery.

"What? No one told me about this" Furihata said.

"I heard about it when they recruited me" Fukuda whispered back.

"But I didn't think they'd actually.." Kawahara said, looking down.

"Like I said before, I'm looking for something concrete and reasonably ambitious. You'll have to do better than 'play my first game' or 'do my best" Riko interrupted them.

I turned to my two friends and saw Kagami smirk. "This'll be easy" he said loudly. _Trust Kagami to be the confident one_, I thought. "This isn't even a test"

He then walked past Riko and jumped onto the railing.

Yup. The idiot actually _stood_ on the railing. And then he shouted

"Class 1-B, number 5, Kagami Taiga! I will defeat the Generation of Miracles, and become the best player in Japan!"

I sighed. Did he _have_ to be so reckless?

He jumped off the railing and I walked toward him. I bashed him on the head once more and said, "That's for being a Baka"

He smiled at me and raised his fist. We fist-bumped and I made my way over to the railings, before Riko could stop me. Unlike my idiot friend, I didn't jump on top of them.

I shouted, "Class 1-B, Arashi Artemis! I will make my team the best in Japan!"

The freshmen and 2nd years below stood staring, awed and confused. Those who witnessed what happened last year just sighed and mumbled something about '_the damn basket team doing crazy things again'_. I smiled and made my way back to Riko. She shook her head at me and said, "I actually intended to just let you watch"

"We're a team, remember?" I said, smiling. Riko rolled her eyes at me.

"Who's next?" She asked the freshmen trio, who looked nervous but not as afraid as before.

"If you don't hurry up, the teachers will get here" Riko told them in a sing song voice.

Furihata raised his hand. "Ano, could I say I want a girlfriend?" He asked.

Riko immediately answered. "No"

Kawahara then stood forward and walked toward the railings, his two friends encouraging him.

I was interested in listening to his goals, but I soon face-palmed when Kawahara began to launch into what seemed like his life story.

"What is this, a soap opera?" I asked quietly as Kawahara began to talk about how he joined his middle school team.

"Arashi-San, that's mean" Tetsuya scolded. I simply shrugged.

Riko, god bless her, quickly knocked the boy out to save him some dignity.

"Whose next?" She asked, annoyed.

Furihata raised his hand again. "Um, I want a girlfriend"

"I told you, no!" Riko replied, glaring at him. Fukada then walked toward the railing.

"Class 1-D, Fukada Hiroshi! I like helping people, so when I heard an upperclassman ask for help, I immediately offered my assistance!"

I sweat dropped. I had a feeling I knew which senpai had done that.

Furihata walked right after his friend.

"Class 1-D, Furihata Koki! The girl I like said she'll go out with me if I became the best at something! I joined the basketball team to become number one!"

"Aww, that's sweet" I said quietly. Behind me, Kagami snorted.

Furihata turned to Riko. "If that's not good enough, I don't mind if I can't join the team"

Riko smiled back at him. "I guess I'm moved. Who's next?"

"Excuse me" Suya called out behind her. Riko jumped and turned to him quickly.

"I'm not good at speaking loudly, so can I use this?" Tetsuya asked her, pulling out a megaphone from nowhere.

"Where did you get that?" Riko asked him

I beamed at Tetsuya. "Suya, you're an amazing ninja!" I whisper. His eyes shone again.

"Why do you keep saying that?" An annoyed Kagami asked behind me.

"Cause, he is" I replied back childishly.

Tetsuya was about to use his magical ninja megaphone, when suddenly, a teacher busted the doors open.

"Hey! The basketball club, again?!" He shouted.

Riko cursed. "Crap, we were so close to finishing"

We were then forced to sit down to hear our teacher's long lecture.

"I warned you last year, didn't you say you wouldn't due this again?"

~~~~Time~~Skip~~~~

I sat down beside Suya in our usual table at Maji burger. We sipped our vanilla shakes in peace when a familiar Baka suddenly sat down in front off us and began muttering.

"I can't believe he got so mad after a little shouting" Kagami grumbled.

"I didn't even finish and I got in trouble too" Tetsuya said right before Kagami placed one of his many burgers in his mouth. I bit back a laugh. Suya can say what he will, but I can tell he loves doing this to people.

Once again, Kagami nearly choked on his burger before swallowing it down. He looked at Tetsuya with wide eyes. "You again?"

_Seems like he hasn't noticed me yet_, I thought with a sinister smile.

"Maybe I should start going somewhere else" Kagami added.

"That's so rude, Kagami" I said out loud. Kagami jumped again.

"You too, Arashi? I swear, Kuroko's invisibility is rubbing off on you" he said, looking happier than he had before. Weird..

I pumped my fist in the air. "Yosha! That means one day I'll be an awesome ninja like Suya~" I say happily! ignoring Kagami's annoyed sigh.

"We aren't allowed on the roof anymore. What will we do if we can't join basketball team?" Suya said, looking worried.

"That's not gonna happen" Kagami replied with his confident smirk.

"Don't worry Suya, I'm sure Riko will prefer having you over Bakagami here" I say, gesturing to Kagami.

"Oi oi, what's that supposed to mean Arashi?!" Kagami asked me.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out~" I reply back happily, sipping my shake.

Tetsuya rolled his eyes at our usual bickering and said, "We'll see"

Kagami, as if suddenly remembering something, turned to Suya. "By the way, why didn't you join some big name school like the other five guys?" He asked.

"You were good enough to be known as the phantom sixth member" Kagami continued. Suya didn't reply, instead opting to sip his shake.

"Is there some reason you play basket ball? What about you Arashi?" Kagami asks us.

"My middle school's basketball team had one core principle. Winning is everything" Tetsuya answered.

"Instead of teamwork, we needed to push the individual talents of the Generation of Miracles in order to win. Nothing could beat us, but we weren't a team. The five of them approved, but I felt we lacked something important"

Kagami raised an eyebrow at him. "So, what? Are you going to beat the Generation of Miracles your own way?"

"That's what I was thinking" Tetsuya replied.

"Seriously?" Kagami asked with a slight smile.

"Your words, Arashi-san's words and the coach's words really struck me. Now my biggest reason to play is trying to make you and our team the best in Japan" Tetsuya said honestly.

Kagami stood up. "We're not gonna try. We're gonna be the best" he said.

Suya gave Kagami one of his small smiles. I sighed. They both turned to face me.

I smirked at Kagami. "That's some big talk for someone who hasn't played any official games yet. You sure you can handle the pressure, Bakagami?' I asked.

Kagami only hmphed at me. "And what's your reason to play?"

I gave him my 'are-you-an-idiot' stare. "Making you guys the best in Japan, of course! I certainly can't let Suya deal with you by himself! Someone's gotta keep you in line"

Kagami spluttered. "Oi oi you can't be serious Arashi!" He said.

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Well, Ja ne~ I'd better get home~" I say.

"Do you need us to walk you home, Arashi-San?" Tetsuya asked me.

I shook my head. "While it's good to know the age of chivalry isn't dead" I say, whilst glaring at Kagami, "I'll have to say no, Suya. And stop calling me 'Arashi-San' would you? It's way too formal" I whined.

Suya sighed and said, "Goodnight then. See you tomorrow, Artemis-San" with his small grin.

"Again with the 'San', huh?" I ask with a sigh. "Guess it can't be helped. But you'll both be calling me 'Artemis-chan' soon, mark my words" I say, clenching my fist in determination.

Kagami snorted. "Why would I call you that, Arashi?" He asked.

"Because I could call you some nice names in front of the GOM" I say, smiling evily. Kagami gulped.

"Ja ne~" I say and leave the fast food place. I took a cab back to Akita, and texted my parents about my day.

~~~Meanwhile in Yosen High~~~~

"Tch. How can you be so persistent yet so lazy, Murasakibara-San?" A pink haired girl asked the tall purple haired boy.

"Hirochin, I'm not lazy~" the boy replied, placing yet another chip in his mouth.

Hiroki Natsumi prided herself on being patient with others. Yet the purple haired boy in front of her was really testing her patience.

After following her around with another guy-who had black hair and a mole-for two days just because she had given him some of her homemade chocolate chip cookies and told him she knew how to bake, he then constantly began to ask her to join the basketball team after she told him she liked playing.

Needless to say, she was close to agreeing. Two constant days of being asked to do some thing by a really persistent guy does that to you.

"My answer is still no. I don't know how to be a manager anyways" the girl said, once again trying to reason with the boy. But to no avail.

"Pleeaseee?~" he asked yet again, giving her puppy dog eyes once more, causing her eyes to soften.

"Fine! I'll do it if you stop looking at me like that!" She relented. Murasakibara smiled at her and patted her long-ish pink hair. He thought it looked like cotton candy.

"Well then let's go, Hirochin~" the boy said before grabbing her hand and walking toward the gym with his usual leisurely pace.

"Oi Murasakibara-San, where are you dragging me off to now?" The girl asked, wishing that the guy's friend would show up. He had a way of calming down the taller male.

"Captain might still be here, so we should tell him you want to join~" Murasakibara said, chip and cookie crumbs all over his face.

Natsumi sighed and reached for a napkin in her bag. "Here" she told the boy, holding out her hand. The tall male stared at her in confusion.

Natsumi sighed once again and raised her hand over Murasakibara's face. She gently brushed away the crumbs with the napkin. Once she was done, she walked back and smiled.

"That's better" she said and continued walking to the gym, this time, without being dragged. Murasakibara stared at the girl in wonder, before placing a hand on his cheek and smiling softly. He caught up with the pinkette and they proceeded to the captain and coach's office.

~~~~~~~Back-to-Seirin~~~~

I yawned sleepily as I trudged through the halls, Tetsuya walking beside me. He had called me in the morning to ask if I could help him with something. Being the friend I am, I accepted.

I smiled slightly as I remembered how we had met up early and had gone to the store to buy packs of chalk. Suya wouldn't tell me what it was for, though.

When he lead me to the school, I stopped him and asked, eyes wide.

"**You** want to _vandalize_ the school with _chalk_?" Anything seemed possible when one was as tired as I was.

Suya shook his head, smile on his face. He seemed to be smiling a lot more lately.

When he told me of his plan to write a message for the basket team, I immediately agreed.

So here we were, heading to our class early, me being sleepy as hell because I had gotten up earlier than usual. But in my opinion, it was worth it.

"Here you go, Artemis" I hear Suya's voice say from beside me. I had actually used his request to my advantage. I told him I would help him, but he would need to drop the 'San'. It took a while before he got used to it.

I turned and see Tetsuya holding out a cup of coffee for me.

"Arigatou~" I say happily and take the cup.

"Sorry for making you get up so early, Artemis. But I really want to in basketball club" he says.

I shake my head at his antics. "It's alright, Suya~ it's the sort of thing friends do for each other, you know?" I say, smiling at him.

We take our usual seats in class, just by the back and near the window.

I see Suya take out a book and begin to read while I just take out a manga book from my bag. I was so happy when I saw the school library had a couple of good manga books~~

Me and Tetsuya both kept our heads down when Kagami walked into the room, the other students were already crowding the window to look at the message we left behind.

Kagami stared at it for a moment, his confident smile making an appearance in his face as he looked at the message.

'**_WE WILL BE THE BEST IN JAPAN_**'

Kagami turned to look at us and as if planned (which it was), me and Suya both rub our noses with our left hands, showing white powder in our sleeves.

~~~Later on in the changing rooms~~~~~

I stood in the back of the changing, facing the wall. Huyga senpai and the others said it was ok for me to be here, seeing as we didn't have a girl's changing room, as long as I promised not to peek.

Seriously, these guys were way too worried about being seeing shirtless.

But I digress.

After they gave me the ok, I was standing next to Kogane senpai as he looked at a magazine of basketball monthly from back during Suya's days at Teiko.

They had an article for every member minus Suya, who said they forgot about him. Poor guy.

Before I could see any pictures of the GOM members, Fukuda walked in and told us that Riko found the team an opponent and that she was _skipping_ for some reason.

I heeded Huyga senpai's warnings about our next opponent being really strong because all of us now knew what Riko was like.

Speak of the devil, Riko senpai came in to the changing rooms and told me to get her some papers from the faculty room. I asked her who our next opponent would be and she answered happily, "It's Kaijo High~ this year, they got their hands on a member of the Kiseki no Sedai, Kise Ryota~"

I nodded and, because it was very hot in the changing room, tied my hair back in a bun. I then put on a black cap, and since I had put on my bandages today, like I always do, I could've passed for a guy.

I got Riko's papers quite quickly but getting back to the gym proved to be a problem. There were tons of girls gathered around the gym, blushing and holding pictures.

What the hell?

I tried to push past the girls but they were a tough bunch. Only after they had gotten their 'autographs' did they finally make way. That took about twelve minutes.

I sighed in relief when I got back to the gym.

"Senpai! Got your papers!" I called out. Everyone was gathered around the gym for some reason, all looking surprised. Riko, on the other hand looked murderous.

"This could be bad" I heard Tetsuya mutter.

That's when I finally saw them. Kagami was playing a one-on-one against some handsome-looking guy with blond hair. I narrowed my eyes at him that Baka.

The interesting thing was that Kagami seemed to be loosing in speed and power against the other guy. So, after seeing Riko's murderous look, I decided to stop them.

I walked toward them using a presence conceal technique I learned from Suya and just when the blonde guy was about to dunk the ball in and win the small match, I jumped high in the air and shoved the ball from his grasp.

I could hear the others gasp in shock when they saw me. Why were they so surprised anyway?

Once I landed on my feet-Kagami and the blonde guy had landed on the floor-I reached for the ball they had been using and glared at both of them.

"Bakagami, you should pay more attention to your surroundings" I said, gesturing to the furious coach beside me. Kagami paled and gulped. I then turned to the blonde guy, who was looking at me with wonder.

"And you shouldn't be interrupting practices, blondie" I say to him.

I threw the ball to Huyga senpai, who was still in a daze and asked, "and why were those girls crowding around here?"

They all pointed at the blonde guy, who had stood from the floor and was making his way over to us.

"After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now" the guy said, looking at Kagami.

I scowled at him, disappointing?

"Give us Kurokocchi" the guy continued, shocking us all. Was he talking about Tetsuya?!

The guy continued to walk until he was in front of Suya.

"Come join us. Let's play basket together again" he said.

What... Wait?!

"I seriously respect you, Kurokocchi. It's a waste of your talent to stay here" the guys added. Who the hell did he think he was?!

"So, what do you say?"

Tetsuya looked at him blankly. "I am honored to hear you say that" he said, respectful as always. He gave the blonde guy a small bow. "I must respectfully decline your offer"

"That doesn't make any sense" blondie said, shocked. "Besides, this isn't like you! Winning was everything! Why didn't you go somewhere better?!"

"My thinking has changed since then. More importantly, I made a promise to Kagami-kun and Arashi-San. I told them we'd beat you, the Generation of Miracles" Tetsuya replied. I smiled.

"It really isn't like you to joke around like that" The guy-from the GOM, apperently-said.

Kagami and I walked behind the guy. Kagami began to cackle again-honestly, I need to tell him to stop doing that, it's creepy.

'_So this is the Generation of Miracles... They're really amazing.. And there are four guys more stronger than him... I can't help but smile.. And to think that she was able to stop him when I couldn't, I wonder who strong she really is.._' Where the thoughts going through Kagami's mind.

"What are you doing?" Kagami asked Suya with a smirk on his face. "I was going to say that, Kuroko"

I sighed. "Bakagami" I mutter before standing beside him.

"I still have no sense of humor. I'm serious" Tetsuya says to the strange blonde guy.

"Hope you can wait till the practice match to get your ass kicked, Kise Ryota" I say with a smirk, finally remembering which member of the GOM had blonde hair. Needless to say, he wasn't my favorite so far.

Kise Ryota returned my smirk. "Well, facing these two guys will be interesting~" he said with a cheerful voice, looking at me and Kagami.

Wait, why is he looking at me?

He doesn't think I'm a...

Guy, does he?

I opened my moth to correct him, when Riko appeared behind me and covered my mouth shut.

"Well, Kise-San, I don't suppose you need to be escorted?" Riko asked kindly.

"No, I'll be fine~" Kise replied, walking toward the exit. "It'll be fun playing against you, Kagami and Kurokocchi~ and Arashi-San, right?" He asked, looking at me.

I nodded, my mouth finally released.

"I'll be looking forward to playing against you~ I'll make sure to return the favor" Kise said, a challenging edge to his voice.

"Huh? Return the favor, Kise-San?" I asked with a smirk. "As if I'd let you" I reply with a challenge in my voice as well.

Kise narrowed his eyes at me and left.

I could feel the rest of the team looking at me in curiosity. I could practically tell what they were thinking. '_How strong is she_?'

Well they were about to find out.

**So far, these are the votes for who ends up wit Artemis**

**Kagami-5**

**Aomine-1**

**Murasakibara-1**

**Akashi-3**

**Kuroko-1**

**Oc-0**

**Kise-0**

**THANK YOU FOR READING!~**

**JA NE~~**


	7. Seirin Vs Kaijō

**Chronicles of a Basketball Loving Redhead**

**Yo Minna!~**

**Chapter 7 is finally here! This is my longest chapter yet! I reached 8,000 words!**

**Thank you so much~ssu to all the people who've reviewed, followed, and favorite the story \~(^.^)~/ You all make my day!~**

**Remember to vote for who you want Artemis to be with~~~**

**If you have any suggestion, thoughts, or ideas for the story, I'd love to hear them~~**

**This chapter is just the Seirin vs Kaijo match, but don't worry, I'll make sure to make the next chapter as soon as I can~~**

**Hope you like it~~**

**Thanks for reading~~**

**PLEASE R&R~~~**

**Enjoy~~**

* * *

I will say one thing about the plan Riko-senpai made.

I do _not_ like it.

I mean, why does she want me to dress like a _guy_ and play against Kaijo?! I want to play against them cuz their strong, sure. But why like this?

"Because! That blond freshman needs to be put in his place!" Riko had explained. I sighed once more as I thought about her 'brilliant' plan.

I might as well explain it.

Riko had decided that I would play against Kaijo in the 3rd quarter of the game, but none of them would know I'm a girl.

I wasn't against the idea of me playing against the guys from Kaijo, I was against dressing up as a boy.

I gulped when Riko told me this morning that today was our match against Kaijo and that she had a disguise for me. I just hope it isn't some _Elvis wig_...

I was surprised when I saw Riko handing me a number 16 jersey and a short red wig. It even had long bangs that covered my right eye nicely.

"You can't be serious" I told her. She just smiled.

Now, here I am. Dressed in the Seirin jersey and wearing a short, dark red wig.

I was walking in the back, with Suya and Kagami, scowling at my bad luck.

"This place is huge" I hear Huyga senpai say. "You can really tell when a school is devoted to its athletics"

Kaijo High was pretty huge. They even had a separate building just for the basket team! Talk about big...

"Kagami-kun" I hear Suya say. "The look in your eyes is worse than usual"

I turn to look at Kagami. Suya was right, his eyes looked terrible. An image of Kagami cackling and cursing Kise all night rose into my mind. I bit back a laugh.

"Shut up" Kagami replied, scowling. "I was a little too excited" he added, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And here I thought your usual glare was bad enough" I say, smiling teasingly at him.

A tic mark appeared in his head. "Shut up, Arashi-_**kun**_" he said sarcastically.

A similar tic mark appeared in my head. "Teme" I growled at him, scowling. "At least you're showing me some respect" I added, smirking. Kagami frowned, trying to figure out the meaning behind what I said.

Suya just rolled his eyes at us. "Kagami-kun, Arashi-San. Please refrain from arguing. We are in another school. Please behave" Suya scolded.

"Hai hai, Oka-San" I muttered. Kagami snorted. Tetsuya ignored me.

"And Kagami-kun, what are you, a kid going to a field trip?" Suya asked, turning to Kagami. I started laughing.

"What'd you say?!" Kagami asked. He was ignored.

"Nice, Suya" I say, fist-bumping Tetsuya.

"Oi oi! Why do you two always go against me?" Kagami asked, annoyed.

Suya and I turned in unison and said, "It's fun"

Kagami shuddered. "And Arashi!" He said suddenly. "Why do you call Kuroko '_Suya_'? It doesn't suit him"

"Kuroko and Tetsuya are both a bit long. Suya's a nickname, Bakagami" I explained.

"How come I don't get one?" He demanded. Was he pouting?

"Fine then" I say, with a mischievous smile. "How about 'Tai-chan'?" I ask

Kagami blanched. "No way"

"Nope. I'm sticking to the nickname, Tai-chan~" I say in a singsong voice.

"Stop it with that name!"

"How about 'Gami-chan'?" I ask. I could've sworn I saw Suya laugh at us.

"Oh, and you're kinda right, Gami-chan" I say suddenly, switching the topic and ignoring the twitch of Kagami's hand. "Suya doesn't suit him. How about 'Tetsu'?" I ask, looking at Tetsuya.

He smiled slightly. Guess he liked the nickname. I smiled deviously.

"Or 'Te-chan'? Maybe 'Tsu-chan'?" I ask.

Tetsuya turned pale. Kagami held his stomach, laughing. The rest of the team, I noticed, were laughing as well.

"Hey~" I hear a voice shouting. The team turned and spotted a familiar blonde running over to us. Kise Ryōta was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, and orange shorts. Now that I took a more careful look at him, I could see that he was really handsome. He had golden colored eyes and long lashes.

"Kise!" Kagami shouted beside me. I winced and punched him on the shoulder.

"It's way to early to be this loud, Gami" I say, laying off the 'chan'. For now...

Kise stopped in front of Riko. "This place is big, so I thought I'd come and get you" he said. Riko greeted him, and Kise immediately walked over to Tetsuya, ignoring Kagami who was calling out to him.

"Kurokocchi" he said, leaning downward to face Tetsuya, "Ever since you turned down my invitation to join us, I've been crying into my pillow every night!"

I raised an eyebrow. Geez, this guy was weird...

"What's wrong with him?" Huyga senpai asks.

"Just show us the way!" Kagami demanded, sounding put out. Guess he didn't like being ignored~

"Not even a girl has turn me down before!" Kise continued, ignoring everyone's comments. I glared at him. '_So arrogant_' I thought, frowning.

"Oi, are you ignoring me?" Kagami shouted at Kise. I raised an eyebrow.

"You just noticed?" I asked him. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at me. "Shut up"

"Could you please stop being so sarcastic?" Tetsuya asked him, looking even more monotone than before, if possible.

Kise narrowed his eyes and turned to face me and Kagami. "I'm interested to know more about the two guys making Kurokocchi say those things" he says.

Kise walked past Kagami and me and said, "I don't care much about being called the 'Generation of Miracles', but I can't ignore such an obvious challenge"

Kagami turned to face Kise and Kise turned his head to look at us. "I'm not mature enough to let it slide" he said.

"Plus, I always return favors on the court" he added, staring at me. "Sorry, but I'm going to crush you with everything I have"

Kagami smirked. "Sounds good" he said.

I roll my eyes and give Kise an impassive stare. "I told you already. I won't let you" I say.

Kise lead us to the large gym.

"This is it" he announced.

Kise excused himself and left through another hallway. I put a hand up to my hair to make sure my red wig was secure.

"Ano, minna" I call out to the team. They turned to me, questioning looks on their faces. "I need to go and fix my hair" I say sheepishly, pointing at my wig.

Getting the message, they all nodded and stood waiting at the entrance of the gym. "We'll wait for you and then we'll go in, Arashi-cha-kun" Riko said.

I nodded and proceeded to walk toward the bathrooms that Kise had pointed out earlier. I was holding two bags in my hands. One with pins for the wig, another for my clothe.

I stood in front of the two doors, in a dilemma.

Which one should I walk into?

If a guy from Kaijo sees me walk out of the women's room, then my cover will be blown. But I couldn't walk inside the men's stall...

Sighing, I entered the women's stall. Call me a coward, but I wasn't gonna enter the men's room.

I calmly took off my wig and proceeded to stick it on better with hair pins. I reached for my bag, which I was sure was beside me, to meet empty air. I looked down, panicked. My bag wasn't here. Where did I leave it?

My wig was halfway stuck on my head with pins. Sighing, I took them all off and place my wig down on the sink._ I must've left it in the hall_, I realized, when I was thinking about which stall to go through.

I took off my Seirin jacket and jersey and placed them on my bag. _Nobody needed to know I wasn't from this school_, I thought. I put on my black sweater and kept my sweat pants, I tied my real hair in a ponytail and walked outside, the bag containing my clothe in my hand.

I sighed with relief when I spotted my other bag in the middle of the hall, next to a vending machine. _Someone must've kicked it_, I thought.

Just when I was about to reach out for it, I heard strange noises coming from the vending machine. Curious, I leaned my head to the side to see what the noises were.

In front of the machine stood Kise Ryōta. He held something in his hand and seemed to be speaking to it. I raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.

I managed to make out what he was saying.

"I can't believe you turned me down, Kurokocchi" the model said in (what sounded like) a husky voice. "After all we've been through" he added.

My eyes widened. He was holding a picture of Tetsu! One, I guess, taken in his middle school days..

"But, I'll make sure to get you back.." Kise was saying. I blanched. Then, he proceeded to make a noise that sounded like, "Ahhhh~"

Was Kise doing what I thought he was doing... with a photo of Tetsu?!

I was about to run the hell out of there and have a serious conversation with Tetsu about his middle school friends, when my shoes made a squeaky sound.

_Damn_, I cursed, hoping that Kise hadn't noticed.

Unfortunately, said blonde looked up, wide gold eyes met my incredulous and slightly disgusted violet ones.

There was silence for about one minute, before I quickly picked up my bag and ran away. Yes, I ran away. I was too shocked to do anything else at the moment. I ignored the shout of 'Wait!' behind me and ran faster.

I entered the men's stall this time, without any qualms. Luckily, there wasn't a male in sight. Sighing in relief, I finally adjusted my wig and put on my jersey and jacket. When I left the bathroom, there was, fortunately, no blonde guy in sight.

A few seconds later, I ran up to my team, who were still waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" Kagami complained.

"Why do you have that look on your face, Arashi-San? Are you sick?" Tetsu asked kindly. I shook my head and gestured to the gym.

We all looked at the gym and saw that it was split in the middle. I clenched my fist. _So this is what they were doing huh?_

"We're playing on half court?" Riko asked, incredulous. "The other side is being used for practice?"

A fat, middle aged man looked over at us. "You're here? Welcome" he said "I'm coach Takeuchi" he introduced. He looked at us in confusion before asking, "Which one of you is the coach?"

"That's me" Riko called out politely. The look of shock the other coach gave her made me a little angry.

"You? You're not the manager?!" He asked her. Ok, so far, I hate Kaijo.

"I'm coach Aida Riko. We look forward to playing with you" Riko said, bowing slightly. _Go Riko!_

Though, her last name seemed familiar...

"Anyway, what's this?" Riko asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. She was gesturing to the other side of the gym, where players where practicing.

"Exactly what it looks like. We only made simple arrangements for today's game" the other coach said. I glared. Were they underestimating us this much?

"There won't be much to learn from this game to make it worth watching for the guys sitting out"

Now the entire team was glaring at the oblivious coach. Even Riko was having a hard time reining her temper.

_This fatass was going down_, I thought. The bastard then decided to add more fuel to the fire.

"We're making the other guys practice as usual to not waste time" he said. "Despite the arrangements, you'll be playing our regulars. I hope you won't let us triple your score" he added, walking away.

Riko was extremely pissed off. You could practically feel the rage flowing from her.

"They think we suck" I hear Kagami say from behind me. "They're treating this like a sideshow to their practice"

"We'll just have to crush them, then" I say. I notice Tetsuya giving us a small smile. _Heh, no way we'll loose to Kaijo, _I thought.

In the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar blonde head of hair and cringed inwardly.

"Kise, why are you wearing your uniform?" The fat coach asked the blonde. "You're not playing" he said, causing Kise to give him a questioning look.

"I know we've got star players from all the middle schools" the coach continued. "But you're on a different level"

I gritted my teeth. This guy reeeally need to pay attention to his surroundings.

Kise looked panicked for a moment. "Don't say that coach! Seriously, stop saying that" the blonde pleaded. _Seems like he's realized just how much his coach pissed us off,_ I thought.

"If I let you play, it won't even be a game anymore" the coach said.

"Tch" I muttered darkly, my sadistic side showing a little.

"Kagami-kun, please hold Arashi-San back. I don't like the look he's giving that coach" Tetsuya whispered to Kagami, who frowned.

"Calm down Arashi" he said. "We'll crush them" he muttered just as darkly. I grinned at him. Tetsu just sighed.

I took a scan of Kaijo's regulars with my Hunter's Eye and saw that they all had above average stats, better than our players. I winced. _Watching the first 2 quarters from the bench wouldn't be pretty,_ I thought. I also noticed that the hoop of one of the baskets was a little loose. If given enough force...

"Just listen to him" I hear Huyga senpai say to Kise. _Everyone looked pissed off,_ I noted. We won't loose this game.

"I haven't been this pissed in a while" Izuki senpai said, glaring at Kise. I nodded, glaring at the blonde.

"I'm sorry! Seriously, sorry" Kise said as he ran over to us. "I'll be on the bench"

He then placed his hand on one side of his face and leaned closer. "If you give his guys a beating, I'm sure he'll let me in" he said.

"Besides.." He added, looking more serious. "If you can't force him to put me in, you shouldn't go around saying that you'll beat the Generation of Miracles"

From across the court we hear the coach call out, "Show the Seirin guys to the locker rooms"

We began to head over to the locker rooms and Tetsu said, "It's fine. Please warm up. We don't have time to wait"

Once we're inside, the guys all changed into their jerseys and it walked up to Kagami.

"Oi, Tai-chan~" I called out. "I've got a plan"

He looked annoyed at the Tai-chan comment but listened nonetheless to my plan. I said five words.

"Dunk with all your strength" Kagami looked at me with raised eyebrows and said, "That was my plan from the beginning Arashi!"

I rolled my eyes at him and walked out the lockers with the rest of the team. I walked over to Tetsu and said, "Good luck, Tetsu"

He only nodded but I saw the determination in his eyes. Tetsu was playing for real now. I smiled.

Huyga senpai, Izuki senpai, Mitobe senpai, Tetsu and Kagami all lined up in front of the Kaijo regulars.

"Let the game between Seirin High and Kaijo High begin!" The referee called out.

"Let's go!" Huyga senpai called out.

The referee looked at our starters with confusion. "Uh, we're about to begin. Seirin, have your five line up" he said, not noticing Suya. I bit back a chuckle.

"Ano, there are five of us" Tetsu called out, raising his hand slightly. The referee as well as the Kaijo players all jumped.

"He's got no presence!" I heard one of the players from the other side of the court say with surprise.

"He's one of their starters?" Another asked, equally surprised.

"He was right in front of me and I didn't notice him" one of the Kaijo starters-a guy with tanned skin, brown hair and eyes-said with slight awe. "What about you, Kasamatsu?" He asked the guy with the number 4 jersey, the captain.

"Yeah, me neither" Kasamatsu, who had black hair and grey-blue eyes said.

"This is ridiculous" I hear the fat coach say. "After all their boasting, I thought they'd have decent players"

I had half a mind to hit him in the head with a big bat. Which wouldn't exactly be a bad thing...would it?

I hear Kise say, "We'll see about that. You might be right. They're not just decent"

I hmphed at that and turned to face the players.

I noticed from the corner of my eyes that Kise had turned and was giving me a thoughtful look.

"Though I wonder why they kept him benched. He's pretty good"

"Ouch" I hear Riko mutter beside me.

"What's wrong, Coach?" Kogane senpai asks her.

Riko doesn't reply and I answer instead. "They have higher stats then us" I say, surprising Riko. I ignore her surprised look and focus on the game instead.

"It's not surprising for a national team. Our physicals are way below theirs" I say. "But we have Tetsu's and Kagami's abilities, which might give us leverage against them"

The whistle blew and Kagami and a Kaijo player both jumped for the ball. The Kaijo player managed to pass the ball to Kasamatsu, who then began to dribble the ball slowly through the court.

I grinned brightly when I saw Tetsu running toward Kasamatsu and punch the ball from his grasp.

Shocked, Kasamatsu turned and spotted Tetsu, who was dribbling the ball in the other direction.

"Where did he come from?" Kasamatsu shouted. Unfortunately, he was much faster than Tetsu, and managed to get in front of him. But then Tetsu passed the ball over to Kagami, who dunked the ball into the hoop I had noticed earlier with all his strength.

The loose hoop finally gave out and broke under Kagami's strength. I grinned triumphantly when the hoop came down with Kagami's hand. _They wanted a beating, so we gave them one_, I thought.

"Alright!" Kagami shouted before he noticed the hoop was still in his hand.

"Wow!" One player said.

"He broke the hoop" another added.

"No way! You're kidding!"

"That thing's dangerous. One of the bolts is rusted" Izuki senpai said.

"Even so, that's not normal" Kasamatsu argued.

The rest players of Kaijo, along with their coach were shocked for a few minutes.

Then the coach of Kaijo had a furious look on his face, which brought me immense satisfaction. That's what he gets for underestimating Seirin!

"Now I see why you told me to dunk, Arashi" Kagami said, walking over to me.

The guys from Kaijo who overheard looked at me with shock for a moment, before their coach called them back.

Me and Kagami fist bumped. "Nice one, Kagami" I praised. He looked somewhat happy...

"How much do you think it'll cost to fix this?" Tetsu asked casually, causing Kagami to turn pale.

"We have to pay for that?!" He asked

I shook my head. "Don't worry, I'll pay for it~" I said, causing Kagami and the rest of the team to look at me in surprise.

"Don't worry Arashi, you don't have to pay for this" Izuki senpai said. I shook my head at him.

"It's my fault it broke, so I'll pay. It's fine guys" I say to reassure them. They didn't look pleased, but they didn't argue about it.

Tetsu and Kagami walked over to Kaijo's coach, where Riko was already apologizing to the coach with a smile on her face. Kagami had a proud smirk on his face, not looking sorry at all.

"I'm sorry we broke your hoop" Tetsu said bowing slightly. "Since we can't play like this, could we use the full court?"

I smiled. Looks like Tetsu figured out my plan. The Kaijo coach glared at them for a while before calling the practice to an end.

The court was cleaned and Seirin was ready to keep playing.

Tetsu, Kagami and I heard a voice laughing behind us. We turned and spotted Kise.

"Now that's what you call a beating" he said, looking at the broken hoop.

"Huh?" Kagami, ever so articulately asked.

"I've never seen the coach like that" Kise explained, turning to face us.

"Then you should tell him this is what he gets for underestimating us!" Kagami snapped. I nodded, smirk in place.

Tetsu just shook his head and walked away.

"Let the game resume!" The referee called out.

Kise walked onto the court, uniform on. "Sorry to keep you waiting" he said.

"You're finally in" Kagami said.

"You're way too intense for a model when your on" Huyga senpai commented. So he was a model, huh?

"He's not just putting on a show" Tetsu said.

Kise turned his face in my direction and said, "Why isn't he playing?"

Kagami raised an eyebrow. "Arashi? He'll be playing sooner or later" he said with a shrug.

They all readied themselves on the court. _Guess I'll finally see this guys play_, I thought. Let's see if he's as good as they say.

"Amazing" I hear Riko mutter. "I can tell from here that Kise Ryōta is really a monster"

I smiled. The stronger the opponent, the better the game.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted several students-mainly girls-lining up to watch the game.

"KISE-KUN! LOOK OVER HERE!" Some of the girls shouted.

"He's so hot!" Other said sighed.

My eye twitched. _Fan girls_, I thought with annoyance.

"Huh? What's all that?" Huyga senpai asked, looking surprised.

"Oh that?" Kasamatsu replied. "This happens every time he plays" he added, as Kise waved at the girls. "And..."

Kasamatsu then proceeded to run over to Kise and kick him, causing the blonde to fall over.

"Quit waving at them, I'll hit you!" He shouted.

"Ow!"

I couldn't contain my laughter. My shoulders started shaking as I laughed. "Nice senpai!" I called out to Kasamatsu, who raised his hand in acknowledgment.

"You already hit me, Kasamatsu-senpai" Kise whined, after he looked at me with a pout.

"Do you understand what the hell's going on Kise?" Kasamatsu asked. "Who the hell is number 10?" He asked.

"Number 10?" Kise asked, confused for a moment. "Oh, that's Kagami"

"Kagami? I've never heard of him" Kasamatsu replied.

"Forget about him" Kise said, which made me raise an eyebrow. "The guy who stole that ball earlier, number 11... He's my teammate from Teiko, Kurokocchi! Isn't he amazing? Right, right?" Kise asked, looking excited.

"Why the hell are you so excited?" Kasamatsu asked, punching Kise in the gut. "Anyways, they gave us a hell of a greeting. It'd be rude if we didn't return the favor..." He added. Kise smirked.

And the game began once more.

Kise and Kasamatsu performed a lay-up, this time, the dunk had much more force, but the hoop didn't break.

Kise's fans cheered loudly for their idol once he dunked the ball with impressive speed.

Kasamatsu once again kicked the blonde to the floor.

"You idiot! I told you to break it!" Kasamatsu said. I sweat dropped. No player could forcefully break a brand new hoop in one dunk...

"Sorry!" Kise replied.

Kagami was looking at the hoop with surprise written on his face. I looked at him grimly. 'Looks like he's noticed' I thought.

"Riko senpai" I say "This could be a problem". Riko nods.

"We're still sticking to the plan, Arashi. You'll play in the 3rd quarter" she said.

I sighed but nodded.

"I can't say the same for girls" I hear Kise say. "But I've never failed to return a favor on the court" he was saying, narrowing his eyes at Kagami.

"Bring it on, teme" Kagami replied.

Kise walks past him and mutters, "You should get him in. I still have a favor to return"

The next team to score was Seirin. With Huyga senpai's quick pass to Tetsu, who used his misdirection to pass to Kagami, who dunked the ball in.

"Let's go all out!" He shouted.

The game continued.

"What's this?" Riko asked, looking shocked.

"What's with this fast paced play?" Kogane asked.

I raised an eyebrow. High paced? I frowned. Guess we needed some more experience if they thought this was fast paced. It seemed like a usual game to me...

But then again, I was a speed player.

I watched with bright eyes as the teams went back and forth. Both defenses were good, but each team's offense was way to strong to guard. I smiled. I loved these kind of game.

I gritted my teeth when Kise blocked Kagami's fade-away. Kise was improving as the game went on.. Is this what the GOM were capable of?

Riko had informed me of Kise's ability to copy any move he sees and perfect it... But this was beyond what I imagined. I would still be able to take him on, but it was proving to be too much for the rest of our team..

I saw Tetsu walk besides Huyga senpai and ask for a time out.

I thought about what he was saying. Kagami did seem like he needed to cool down. We wouldn't be able to win if he kept playing like that...

Riko called a time out and I handed out towels and bottles to the guys. They seemed beyond tired for just playing five minutes...

Though they have been switching from offense to defense at an astounding pace...

I needed to talk to Riko about the guy's stamina training...

I overheard the Kaijo guys talking.

"..what's with that invisible kuroko guy?" Kasamatsu asked Kise.

Kise looked beyond happy at the question and said, "Deshou?! Kurokocchi's actually..."

He was then punched in the stomach by Kasamatsu once again.

"Why the hell are you so happy, Tem-" Kasamatsu began to say before Kise grabbed his fist and looked at him more serious than before.

"It's ok" Kise said, smirking. "The balance will tip soon enough"

I turned my attention back to Riko, who was showing the guys a small diagram of the court.

"We need to deal with Kise-kun first" she was saying.

"That's a given, Coach" I say "Problem is, how are we gonna do that?"

"I can't believe Kagami can't handle the guy by himself" Huyga senpai said. "Should we put another guy on him?" He asked.

Kagami immediately reacted.

"What?" He asked, shocked. "Hey, wait..." He seemed to struggle here. "Please"

"Please?" Riko senpai muttered, looking surprised.

"There is a way" Tetsu said suddenly. We all turned to him.

"They have a weakness" he said.

"Weakness?" Riko asked, looking surprised.

"What? You should've told us sooner" Huyga senpai said, also surprised.

"No" Tetsu said. "To be honest, I'm not even sure it can be called a weakness. And I'm sorry. There's another problem. Because of the unexpectedly high-paced play, my effectiveness is already wearing off"

Huyga senpai looked shocked. "W-what?"

I nodded. "So that's the weakness of your misdirection, huh?"

"Hai" Tetsu replied.

"How long can you keep using it?"

"I can only use my misdirection for 40 minutes" he explained.

"Why didn't you tell us something so important sooner?!" Riko asked, various tic marks appearing in her head.

She then began to choke Tetsu, with the rest of the senpais trying to hold her back.

"I'm sorry! You didn't ask!" Tetsu explained.

"Do you never say anything unless you're asked?!" Riko asked him, still keeping her choke hold. I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to face me.

"Senpai. Is it possible that once Tetsu can't use his misdirection, I could replace him in the game?" I asked.

Riko looked at me thoughtfully. "Are you sure, Arashi?" She asked. I nodded.

"Wait a minute, Arashi, you're gonna play? I thought you dressing up like that was just for show" Bakagami asked.

"It's not" Riko explained. "Sh-he will be playing in the third quarter"

I turned to Tetsu. "Think you can keep up your misdirection till then?" I ask.

He nodded. The rest of the team sighed with relief. Riko still hadn't released him from her choke hold. The referee blew his whistle.

"Your time out is over!" He called.

"Huh? But I only got to hit Kuroko-kun!" Riko shouted.

I sweat dropped. What else was she planning to do?

Kagami walked toward Riko as the others walked toward the court. "Let me stay on him, please"

"Why are you acting so polite?" Riko asked

"I have a feeling I'm about to get something" Kagami explained.

"You should let him, Coach. Kise might be strong, but we can't underestimate the Kaijo regulars" I say, throwing my two cents in. Kagami shot me a grateful look. He then went to join the other players.

"Wait!" Riko called. "Switch from man-to-man to a zone defense. Keep a strong defense on the inside and stop Kise-kun quickly. Stopping Kise-kun is your top priority"

"Got it" the guys say in unison.

"And try to slow down the pace, Kuroko-kun" Riko said to Tetsu, who was tying his shoes. "Just don't let the gap get to big"

I walked toward Kagami and patted him on the shoulder. "You're learning manners" I say proudly. He rolled his eyes at me and walked to the court.

"Good luck" I say to Tetsu once he walks past me.

The game resumed.

I nearly sighed when I saw that the guys where mainly trying to stop Kise. Sure, Kise was strong, but the other regulars were not to be estimated.

As expected, the 2nd years of Kaijo began to score, as Kise continued to pass them the ball.

Tetsu's misdirection seemed to completely stop working, as neither his invisibility or magic passes could go through.

The score so far was 22-28, Kaijo winning. And there were only 5 minutes left in the quarter.

As the game continued, the gap between the scores wasn't getting any smaller. I could only hope that the third quarter came fast, before the gap became too big.

"Why don't you acknowledge it already?" Kise asked Kagami after stopping yet another dunk.

"You're years away from challenging the Generation of Miracles" he continued

Kagami scowled at him. "What'd you say?"

"The gap between our score might get bigger" Kise said, smirking. "But it certainly won't get any smaller. More than formations or strategy, basketball is about your build. It's a sport of size. The difference between your team and ours is simply too great. You were the only one who stood a chance against us, but now I can see how strong you really are. I thought your friend on the bench might be strong. But being benched for the entire game? That speaks a lot about his skills"

I glared at him. Wait till the third quarter comes, pretty boy...

"I'll admit you have potential" Kise added. "But you're still far below me. No matter what you throw at me, with one look, I'll return it twice as good. You can struggle but you'll never beat me. The real world isn't that easy"

Kagami looked down at the floor, before he began cackling again. I winced. I really had to tell him to stop doing that. Especially in public places...

"Sorry, sorry" Kagami said, wiping a tear from his eyes. "I'm just so happy"

"Happy?" Kise asked, looking confused. I grinned. If he thought that was all it took to bring Kagami down, then he'll see just how wrong he is.

"It's been a really long time since anyone's said that to me" Kagami explained.  
"I heard it all the time over there"

"Over there?" Kise asked.

"In America" Kagami answered. Kise looked surprised.

"You lived in America? That's amazing!" He said.

"I thought I jumped the gun, coming back here to play. Hearing you say that is encouraging, really. Life's all about challenges. There's no point in living if there's no one strong to play. It's better if I can't win" Kagami said

I rolled my eyes. Talk about long explanations..

"We're just getting started. Don't you think it's a little early to say you've won? Besides, thanks to you, I now know your weakness" Kagami added, walking past Kise.

"What weakness?" Kise asked, shocked. I leaned forward, eager to hear this weakness.

"With one look? What if you don't see it?" Kagami asked.

My eyes widened. Could it be...?

"In other words" Kagami continued, placing one of his huge hands over Tetsu's head. "This guy's your weakness!"

Ooh, I thought. So it is Tetsu...

"So? It's true Kurokocchi's style is the only one I can't copy. But what does that change?" Kise asked, looking confident.

"End of the first quarter!" The referee announced. "Take a two minute break!"

"It changes everything! We'll bring you to tears during the second quarter!" Kagami announced.

So far, the score was 27-35, Kaijo in the lead.

When Kagami told Riko and the rest of the team his plan, I was fairly impressed. Looks like Bakagami could be quite the strategists when he put his mind to it.

"I see. Yeah, that could work" Riko said, smiling. "Looks like you finally cooled down, Kagami-kun"

"No, I was alw-" Kagami began to say before Huyga, Izuki, and I interrupted him.

"You were totally pissed" we said in unison.

"But, Kagami-kun and kuroko-kun, your coordination will be the key. Can you do it?" Riko asked them.

"Yeah, probably" Kagami said, uncertain. "We'll wo-" he began to add before he was jabbed in the ribs, courtesy of Tetsu.

"Teme! Where did that come from?!" Kagami asked him, holding his sides.

Tetsu just looked at him and asked,"You want to beat Kise-kun, don't you?"

Kagami then jabbed Tetsu in the stomach, causing him to double over, and said, "Of course I do!"

Feeling left out, I went behind Kagami and whacked him on the head.

"ITA!" He shouted, jumping.

"Then stop being uncertain. It doesn't suit you" I say seriously.

Kagami looked away again and said,"Fine"

He tried to whack me on the head, like I had done to him, but I stopped him when I said sweetly.

"Kagami-kun, that blonde pretty boy has wasted my patience. I will not hesitate to give you pain. So just give me a reason to inflict it~"

Kagami gulped and brought his hand down at his side. The rest of the team all inched away from me.

"Well then" Riko said. "Take care of the counter attack!"

"Don't get scared Kagami!" I shouted at him. A tic mark appeared in his head as he turned to me.

"Arashi..." He growled. I smiled at him innocently.

The second quarter consisted of Kise scoring, Huyga's three pointers, and a stronger defense.

The only thing different about this quarter?

Tetsu and Kagami were starting to work together to score. Instead of just passing the ball to Kagami, they passed it to each other. This gave them a million choices as to were to pass the ball, which would make their play unpredictable.

Counter attack indeed...

((If you want the full match, watch the episode~~~))

Things became interesting when Tetsu began to guard Kise. I thought that the coordinated play between Kagami and him was the only trick they had up their sleeves, but Kise tried to make a three pointer, Kagami blocked him and destroyed all chance of that. Tetsu was guarding below, while Kagami covered aerial assaults. It was truly a beautiful coordination.

Things took a turn for the worst when Kise, who wasn't aware of his surroundings, accidentally hit Tetsu on the face.

I wasn't worried about that at first. But then I noticed the blood. Tetsu had a cut on the upper part of his forehead, which was now leaking blood down to his mouth.

I didn't pay attention to the senpais shouts of 'Kuroko', or the way Kise stood staring at Tetsu with shock on his face. I ran as fast as I could and got the first aid kit.

I made it just in time to hear Tetsu say,"This game is just getting starte-" before he began to fall down. Thinking quickly, I ran to him before he could fall, and caught him.

"Kuroko!" Huyga senpai shouted.

I moved Tetsu to the bench with the help of Mitobe senpai and began to clean out the wound. I applied bandages to his head and sighed with relief when I noticed he only fainted.

"Daijobu~" I say to the worried team. "He just fainted"

They all collectively sigh with relief, before their eyes reflect worry.

"Tetsu can't play anymore" I tell them grimly.

"We'll have to make due with the players we have" Riko said, turning to face the rest of the team.

"Kise-kun will just copy you, so don't play on the offense, Kagami-kun" Riko added, after telling us the 2nd years will be playing offense.

"Ano, senpai?" I asked. Riko turned to me. "Can I play in the defense too?"

Riko seemed thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

"Do everything you can to stop Kise-kun from scoring, go it?"

"Hai" Kagami and I say in unison. I grin widely. Now I can show that pretty boy...

"Are you sure that'll really work?" Kagami asked, looking uncertain.

"Of course, have some faith" Huyga senpai replied.

"But!" Kagami tried once again to protest before I jammed my elbow in his gut.

"I said, it'll be fine, dumbass" Huyga senpai said kindly, a flowery background forming around him. Oh shit...

"Listen to your seniors once in a while, or I'll kill you" he said, flowery background still behind him.

Kagami and I gulped.

The score was 34-39. We could win this, I thought.

"First years should show more respect to their senpais! Get on your knees!" Huyga ranted.

"You're showing your true colors, Captain" Izuki called after him.

My eyes widened. "So this is 'Clutch-time' Huyga, huh?" I asked. Izuki nodded.

"Don't worry about him" he said to Kagami. "When he speaks his mind, he won't miss many of his shots. Leave the offense to him and defend like your life depends on it"

I smiled, excited and nodded as I took off my t-shirt, revealing my number 13 jersey. Finally, I'd be able to play! Even though it was only defense and I couldn't go all out, it would be fun to wipe the smirk off pretty boy's face.

Kise also seemed to notice the change. "Oh?~ Finally out of the bench, I see" he said to me. I gave him my death glare. He gulped and I grinned sadistically at him. "You'll be eating your words from before, pretty boy~" I say cheerfully, a background of flowers appearing just like Huyga.

"I'll crush you like a bug for insulting me, bastard" I say, still smiling.

Kise paled and moved away from me.

The next quarter was very much like the first, filled with high paced plays. The guys from Kaijo barely scored, due to Me and Kagami's defense.

I learnt that a clutch time Huyga was not someone to mess with. He was literally in a 'insult your senpai and I will kill you' mood. But his shots were amazing! He never missed once!

Mitobe and I also helped the others score with our screens. It seemed to bring me and the silent player a bit closer together, the fact that we're both good at screening.

3rd P.o.V

"What's going on? What's with this sudden strength in the defense?" Kise asked, annoyed.

He was given a punch on the shoulder, courtesy of Kasamatsu.

"Are you stupid? It's that red haired kid! He's really good at defense. I didn't even see him until he was screening me away from Huyga" Kasamatsu said, staring at the said redhead.

It wasn't only Kasamatsu who had noticed the red haired boy's talent with defense. The other Kaijo regulars as well as the spectators had their own thoughts about the 'boy'

"He's way to fast. One moment he's across the court, the next, he's right in front of you!" Mayama complained to his fellow 2nd year.

"Who's that guy that keeps defending?" Some of the girls in the audience asked. They thought 'he' was quite handsome. With his long dark red bangs covering one of his eyes, he looked quite mysterious. They also thought that his visible purple eye was beautiful. He hadn't attempted to score yet, which left some of them confused.

"I take back what I said about him before" Kise muttered as he watch the redhead stop another shot.

"What did you say about him?" Kasamatsu asked the ace, who gulped and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I might've said that he wasn't very good, and that that was the reason his coach kept him in the bench" Kise said, embarrassed.

Kasamatsu faced palmed. "No wonder he keeps coming at us with a vengeance" he said.

"Changed your mind yet, pretty boy?~" a cold voice asked from behind them.

Kise jumped a foot and the air and turned to see the very red head they were talking about giving him a sadistic grin. He shuddered. This guy reminded him wayyy too much of another redhead he knew...

"A-ah about that. Yeah!" Kise said, realizing the boy was waiting for a reply. "You're pretty scar- I mean talented" he suddenly realized he forgot the boy's name.

When he turned to look at the 'boy' once more, he saw that the redhead had already moved all the way to the other side of the court.

"Kise, you're an idiot" Kasamatsu muttered.

Both Kaijo players heard a chuckle from behind them and turned to see Kagami staring at them.

"You've done it now, Kise" he said, snickering. "I've never seen him this angry" he added with a shudder. "You're just lucky he isn't playing offense. He would slaughter you" the tall redhead said. "An angry Arashi is not something I would face" he added in an undertone.

"Arashi, huh" Kise said, once more staring at the red head. Even his name sounded like the one of the other redhead he knew. And from what he saw so far, they were equally scary.

~~~~somewhere in Japan~~~~

A green haired male and a raven haired male were talking about the game at Kaijo. As well as who would pedal the rickshaw...

~~~~Back in Kaijo~~~~~~~

Artemis P.o.V

This is bad. Since I've been on the defense, I haven't been able to score at all!

And the gap between our scores might've gotten smaller, but times running out, and we haven't caught up. It was the middle of the third quarter and Tetsu still hadn't woken up, though I suspect he will soon. We needed him to win, after all.

48-52, Kaijo in the lead. Only two minutes left in the third quarter.

"We need Kuroko-kun" I hear Riko say to the rest of the team. Another voice joins in.

"Very well" It's Tetsu! I turned around and saw him walking toward the court, head still bandaged.

Riko seemed to be telling him to lay back down, but Tetsu was stubborn. He wanted to play.

In the end, we had a member change. Mitobe senpai left the court and in came Tetsu.

"It sure took you long enough, Tetsu" I say sarcastically.

Tetsuya just rolled his eyes at me. "Gomen, Arashi-kun. Your new fans made it difficult for me to recover" he said back sarcastically.

Kagami snorted as he joined us and I grabbed Tetsu's head in a headlock and  
rubbed my fist against his hair. "What was that Tsu-chan?" I asked teasingly. I let go of him and he pouted at me.

"Arashi-San please don't do that to my hair" he said in his scolding voice.

"But Tetsu's hair is so soooft~" I whined, which was true. His hair was really soft.

Kagami snorted. "Let's go" he said to us.

"Hai" Tetsu and I responded.

The score so far was 68-78. Kaijo leading.

Tetsu's misdirection came back full force. Plus, with Kagami's and Tetsu's coordination, we were able to finally nearly reach Kaijo.

Kise seemed to be having a hissy fit at the fact that he might loose. He sped past Tetsu and Kagami, who were planing to back tip him again. I tried to get over to where Kise was about to dunk, but to no avail.

"I will not loose. Not to anyone. Not even to Kurokocchi" Kise said, eyes staring dead straight at Tetsu.

With only seconds left on the clock, on the fourth quarter, the score was 98-98. We were tied.

This seemed to shock the Kaijo players. Seems they didn't expect a team like Seirin to tie with them, huh?

I gritted my teeth as I blocked another powerful dunk from Kise. This guy was trying to hard to 'return the favor'

Tetsu called me and Kagami over when there was only a few sconds left.

"We need a plan" I say, staring at the scoreboard.

"No shi-" Kagami was about to say before he was silenced by Tetsu.

"Kagami-kun, don't curse" he scolded. I stuck my tongue out at Kagami,who just glared.

"We need something Kise can't copy. It's a simple strategy, but it can only be used once. We just need to score a buzzer beater" Tetsu continued. My eyes widened.

"That'd be perfect! Nice, Tetsu!" I say, determined.

"You know what you have to do?" Tetsu asked me and Kagami. We nodded.

Kagami and Tetsu would rush past Kise and perform the buzzer beater, whilst I stopped anyone from the other team from rushing in to help Kise.

We broke apart and the game continued. Just as planed, Tetsu and Kagami managed to get past Kise, who thought that Tetsu wouldn't make a shot. I was worried the moment Kasamatsu pointed out it was an alley-oop, and when he tried to run past to where Tetsu was, but I managed to keep him away.

Kagami jumped after the ball, Kise only jumping a second after him. I smirked. When I had scanned Kagami, one thing I noticed was the strength of his legs. If anyone would beat Kise in an aerial battle, it would be Kagami.

My thoughts proved to be correct when Kise began to descend yet Kagami was still going up.

"I don't need you to return the favor" Kagami said as he rose higher into the air. "Because... This ends now!"

His hands slammed the ball into the basket. The buzzer went off.

I turned, like the rest of the players, to look at the scoreboard.

Kaijo-98

Seirin-100

We won.

WE WON!

I smiled widely at that and joined Kagami in celebrating.

"YOSHA!" We both shouted in triumph. I ran over where Tetsu and Kagami were and put my arm on their shoulders. "We did it!" I said, beyond happy.

The senpais all gave us thumbs up. "I can't believe we won" Huyga said, smiling widely.

Tetsu bent down, panting heavily.

I looked over at the Kaijo team, who were all panting as well.

"I...lost?" I hear kise's voice ask, completely shocked. I looked over at Kise and saw he was crying. Huh?!

Kise tried to stop the flow of tears, but they continued to flow.

That is, until Kasamatsu kicked his ass, literarly.

"Idiot! Stop crying!" The captain ordered. "And you've got some balls to say you've never lost before. I'll hit you! And you'd better add the word 'revenge' to that empty dictionary of yours!"

Kise then smiled slightly at his captain. He'll be alright.

"Line up!" The referee called out. All the players lined up in two lines. "With a score of 100-98, Seirin High wins!"

"Thank you for the game!" We all shout.

We all gathered our things and stood outside. Kasamatsu stepped forward and shook Huyga's hand. The coach of Kaijo had a dark, deathly aura of fury around him while Riko had a sunny and happy around around her. I snickered. Serves him right for what he did, I thought.

"Because we're in different districts, if we play again it'll be in the Inter-High" Kasamatsu was saying to Huyga.

"We'll be there" Huyga replied. "I don't want to confess to my love butt naked" he added, causing Riko to emit flowers from her cheerful aura.

"Let's go, minna!" Huyga ordered.

"Osu!" We all replied.

All in all, it was a pretty fun game. Even if I had to dress up as a guy.

**Votes so far for who will end up with Artemis**

**Kagami-7**

**Aomine-4**

**Murasakibara-2**

**Akashi-5**

**Kuroko-3**

**Oc-0**

**Kise-0**

**Midorima-0**

**Takao-0**

**Remember to vote~~**

**Please review!~~**

**Thanks for reading~**


	8. Aftermath of Kaijō vs Seirin

**Chronicles of a Basketball Loving Redhead**

**Hello Minna~~~~**

**Sorry it took me so long to write this, but Chapter 8 is finally here!~~**

**It's a lot shorter than my other chapters (Gomen about that) but it's just the ending of the Kaijō arc~~~**

**Again, Thank you so much for all the reviews,follows and favorites!~ You guys make my day with your reviews~**

**Remember to vote for the guy you want Artemis to end up with~~**

**If you have any thoughts/suggestions/ideas about the story, I'd love to hear them~~**

**Hope you like the chapter~**

**Thanks so much for reading!~**

**~~~ENJOY~~~**

* * *

After the game, Riko took Tetsu to the nearest hospital to get his head-wound looked over.

The rest of the team stayed behind, anxious to hear what the doctor had to say.

I tried taking off my wig while we all waited for Riko and Tetsu, since it was starting to itch, but Huuyga stopped me.

"Oi, Arashi" he called when he noticed what I was trying to do. "Keep your hair on for now, just to be safe"

I sighed but nodded. _You could never be too careful after all,_ I thought.

Turns out, Tetsu was going to be just fine. The team all let out sighs of relief.

"Sorry for making you worry" Tetsu said, bowing slightly.

"Honestly, I didn't know what to think when you fell over" Izuki said, giving Tetsu a small smile.

"We're just glad you're alright"

The rest of the team nodded in agreement and I put my arm around Tetsu's shoulders.

"This team can't survive without our ninja" I say brightly, smiling at him. I see Tetsu's eyes gleam at my comment. Mission accomplished.

"Isn't that right, Te~chan?~" I ask him, now ruffling his soft blue hair. It was _SOOO_ soft. Why does he have such soft hair?

I hear the rest of the team chuckle and I saw Kagami laughing-cackling-at the nickname. Tetsu was pouting at me.

"Arashi-San, don't do that" he said, pushing my hand away.

"But _Te~~chaaan~~_" I whined.

"No" he said with finality.

"And why are you calling me 'Arashi-San' again? We aren't playing right now, so call me Artemis!" I complain, pouting at him.

Tetsu just sighed at my childishness. "Alright then Artemis" he said quietly. I smiled at him.

The team set off once more. Koganei senpai suggested we all go somewhere to eat and celebrate and the rest were all for it.

"Wait a minute!" Riko called out to us as we cheered. "Other than transportation money, how much do you guys have?"

We all turned and took out our cash. Sad to say, it wasn't much. Only a few yen. Even I didn't bring much... Shame..

We all turned back, disappointed. I vaguely heard a truck rush past us.

"WAIT" I hear Riko's voice shout from behind. I turned with the rest of the team and saw the sparkle in her eyes.

Well, this won't end well...

~~~Minutes later~~~~

I take back what I said.

Riko actually had a genius idea! There was a restaurant close by that had an '_eat a certain amount of steak at a certain amount of time and it's free!'_ Deal.

The rest of the senpais were actually all happy about this. Until they saw the size of the steak.

After only taking a few meager bites, they were already complaining!

I turned to my left and saw Kagami sigh contently, plate devoid of food. I smirked at him.

"Wow Kagami! You finished?" I asked, in a mock surprised voice.

Kagami nodded proudly. I snorted.

"Slowpoke" I say. "I finished mine long ago" I then show him my empty plate.

"_**EHHH**_?!" I hear everyone else shout behind me. I turned and saw that everyone else had their mouths hanging open and were staring at me with shock.

"A-Arashi-chan? You finished that?" Furihata asked me, completely surprised.

"Yup! Hey Tetsu, you gonna finish that?" I asked, looking over at my friend who had long since given up trying to eat the large steak. He eagerly handed the steak over.

"Oi Arashi! Don't hog it all! Why don't you guys just bring it all here?" I hear Kagami suggest to the seniors. I nod my head.

"Yeah, I'm still hungry" I say. Riko looked at me, confused.

"Arashi-chan... How do you stay so thin?" She asked, looking incredulous. The others all nodded, curious.

"Basketball" I answer simply. They all nodded in understanding.

"Oi, Bakagami" I call out to our resident Baka, whose double eyebrows twitched. "Wanna have a competition?" I challenged, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You're on" Kagami replied, smirking confidently.

"Te- I mean Riko-senpai, can you be our referee?" I asked, noting that Tetsu was walking out of the restaurant. Maybe he just wanted some fresh air?

"Yosh. One. Two. Three. Go!" Riko counted

Kagami and I glared at each other for about a nano second. Then we both dived into the meat.

Munch, munch, munch was the only sound heard for about 15 minutes. Then, Riko shouted, "Enough! There's no more!"

I swallowed the last of the steak I had been eating and looked over at Kagami, who had also finished his steak. We both then looked at Riko expectantly.

_'Are they even human_?' Were the thoughts going through the rest of the team's mind.

"It's a tie!" Riko announced, slightly in shock herself.

Kagami and I groaned.

The owner of the restaurant walked over to our table, almost happily. It looked like the owner thought we had lost the challenge and needed to pay.

His smile dropped the instant he looked down at our table and found it devoid of food.

"**Itadakimasu***!" Kagami and I exclaimed at the same time, fist bumping each other.

"Get out and don't come back!" The owner of the restaurant shouted as we all left the restaurant. I bit back a chuckle. _Poor man_, I thought.

"Man, I think I ate too much" Kagami said from beside me. I grinned at him.

"At least we didn't have to pay for that" I say, shuddering at the thought of how much those steaks would've cost...

"I didn't know you had the stomach to eat all that Arashi" Kagami added. Was that a bit of pride in his eyes?

"Hey, I'm a growing woman" I said, rolling my eyes. Kagami snorted.

"I've noticed" I hear him say quietly. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What was that?" I ask. He gulped and looked away, "Nothing"

"Where's Kuroko?" I hear Huuyga ask all the way in the front of the group.

"I bet he's at the back, like he always is" Koganei replied, looking behind him.

When they didn't see Tetsu at the back, everyone panicked.

"That kuroko! Running off!" Riko shouted, looking worried.

"Calm down, Minna" I say, sweat dropping slightly. Was I the only one who saw Tetsu leave?

"Tetsu left while we were all eating" I continued. "He's probably walking around, trying to get some fresh air"

Riko looked at me, murderous aura surrounding her. "And why didn't you tell us he left, Arashi-chan?" She asked.

I shrugged, slightly scared. "I-I thought everyone saw him leave" I answered truthfully.

Riko just sighed. "Well then, let's split up to look for Kuroko" she said "We can't leave if he isn't with us"

I nodded and pulled Kagami by the arm to the direction I had seen Tetsu walk off to.

"Oi Arashi! What are you doing?" Kagami asked me, sounding both annoyed and surprised.

"Looking for Tetsu" I answered, already scanning around the area for the familiar teal hair.

"But why did you drag me?" Kagami asked.

"You would've probably argued with Riko about looking for Tetsu. Typical Bakagami" I replied.

"Stop calling me that!" Kagami complained.

We walked past a small park and Kagami stopped when he saw a couple of students playing basketball in the small court.

"Street ball.." He said, sounding wistful. "I didn't know they had this in Japan"

"You played street ball?" I asked, surprised. Kagami nodded.

"I remember my friends used to drag me to parks to play" I said, smiling slightly at the memory. I then shook my head. "Enough about that, we need to find Tetsu" I said. Kagami tore his eyes away from the court and nodded.

I finally released his arm. Mainly because he was heavy.

"Geez you need to lay off the burgers" I teased. Kagami blushed and glared at me as we walked about.

"I am not fat!" He argued, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I never said you were _fat_~" I replied in a sing song voice.

Kagami spluttered. "You're the one that needs to lay off the steak" he said. I stopped and turned to him slowly.

"What was that Bakagami?" I asked in a low voice.

"I said you need to lay-" Kagami said, and before he could finish the sentence that would led to his early death, he stopped.

"Isn't that Kise? And Kuroko?" He asked instead. I turned to where he was pointed and saw the familiar blue hair. Kise was there with him, sitting on a bench.

"Yeah, that's them" I confirmed. Feeling curious, I speed-walked past Kagami and crouched down in the area near Tetsu and Kise.

I heard Kise mention a guy called 'Midorimacchi' and how his left hand was no joke 'especially on good days for cancers' before Kagami pulled me away.

"Oi oi, hanase!" I say to him. His grip was strong, I thought with a frown.

After we were away from hearing range, Kagami finally released my arm.

"What's the big idea?" I asked, rubbing my now sore arm.

"It's rude to listen to other people's conversations, Arashi" he tells me in a scolding tone.

"Geez, aren't you curious about what they're talking about?" I asked him, annoyed.

"Nope. All we need is to get Kuroko and we can go home" Kagami replied. He began walking back to where kuroko was talking to his former teammate. Instead of going over to Tetsu, grabbing his arm and walking away, he stood frozen, listening to their conversation intently.

I inched closer to where Kagami stood and hear snippets of the conversation.

"Potential.. Could reach the Generation of Miracles... Will distance himself from his team..." I immediately knew who they were talking about. I sneaked a glance at Kagami.

Kagami didn't seem to like what he heard. He went over to Tetsu a few minutes later and pushed him roughly, almost causing Tetsu to fall.

"Teme" Kagami said to him, sounding annoyed. "Running away like that"

Kise sat up. "You were listening?" He asked, slightly sheepish.

"Of course I was! What'd you get off, kidnapping kuroko like that?" Kagami demanded.

I walked up to them and sighed. "And here I thought listening to other people's conversations was rude" I said sarcastically, glaring at Kagami who now looked sheepish.

"Yo, Tetsu!" I greeted, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Next time you go out for some air, tell the coach. She nearly blew a fuse back at the restaurant"

"Sorry" Tetsu mumbled. I smiled reassuringly at him and patted his shoulder.

"Now Pretty Boy~" I say, turning to Kise, who gulped. "Why'd you steal Tetsu?"

"'Tetsu'?" Kise asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "You must be close to him, Kurokocchi" he added, ignoring my question.

"Arashi-kun likes to give people nicknames" Tetsu explained.

I nod. "Only my friends, though" I added.

"Why haven't I gotten a nickname then?" Kagami asked me. I snorted

"You do have one" I say. He raised a double eyebrow at me so I elaborated. "Bakagami"

He frowned at me. "Tch" he said, turning to the side.

After that, Kagami and Kise got into an argument about basket ball, so me and Tetsu just watched them, feeling exasperated.

"Hey, you guys have been here way too long!" I hear a voice say loudly from behind me. "Let someone else play"

"We've only just started" a different voice replied. I turned and saw the students who were playing basketball before talking to a group of guys who had an air of arrogance about them. I frowned at the sight.

The two groups were apparently arguing over who should get to play. One of the guys from the arrogant-looking group suggested they settle it with basketball.

I sighed, thinking that it would be a fair way of deciding who got to use the court. Until I saw the arrogant-looking team resort to violence and cheating.

I gritted my teeth, unaware that I was walking toward the group along with Tetsu until I was right in front of one of the arrogant guys and had stolen the ball away from him.

"Now that's not nice" I said, giving the guy a death glare. The guy backed up a few steps, gulping.

"W-who the hell are you?" Another one asked. They were 5 in total, I counted. Not very good odds if this turned into a fight...

"What you guys were doing just now isn't basketball. There's no need to resort to violence" Tetsu said without hesitation. My respect for him grew.

"Wow, there's actually still people like that" Another guy said, chuckling. I narrowed my eyes. I didn't like his tone just now...

"Why don't we settle this with basketball?" The first guy asked. I frowned at him. Two-on-five was hardly fair. But if it was me and Tetsu...

I felt a hand drop on top of my head and turned slightly. Kise had his hand on my head while Kagami had one of his hands on top of Tetsu's head.

"Can we play too?" Kise asked from beside me. I 'tched' at him and slapped his hand away, embarrassed and alarmed. He didn't notice I was wearing a wig, did he?

"Why'd you get involved, bastard?" Kagami asked him. Then, he turned to the 5 guys. "Four on five is fine" he said.

The five guys just stared at Kagami in shock. Their faces just screamed 'We're screwed'

I 'hmphed' at them but I was more confident now. We had Kagami and Kise on our side, and Kagami could be quite intimidating, especially if you didn't know him.

~~~Minutes Later~~~~

After we crush- defeated the 5 guys in a surprisingly fun game, Kagami and Kise took off their jackets and began to scold me and Tetsu.

"What were you guys thinking? Just going over there like that?" Kagami was yelling. "Do you guys honestly think you could've won if it turned into a fight?"

"Of course not" Tetsu replied, blunt as ever. I smiled. "Look at these guns" he added, flexing his arm.

"No Tetsu, like this" I said, flexing my arm in a different position.

"You guys don't have any!" Kagami shouted.

Kise smiled at us, I noticed from the corner of my eye. I guess we are pretty amusing.

Kise picked up his bag and jacket and said," Well, I'll be going now"

He turned slightly and placed his jacket over his shoulder. "I finally got to play with you again, Kurokocchi~" he said, giving us a million dollar smile. I fought back a blush.

"And don't think I've forgotten my revenge, Kagamicchi" Kise said staring at Kagami.

I snickered at Kagami's shocked face. "Kagamicchi?!" He asked, bewildered.

"Kise-kun adds 'cchi' to the names of those he acknowledges" Tetsu explained. "That's good for you" he added.

"I don't want that!" Kagami argued. While Tetsu and Kagami argued, I rolled my eyes and met Kise's curious gold ones. I raised an eyebrow at him, feeling self-conscious.

"I'll make sure to return the favor too, Arashicchi" he said to me, eyes narrowed in challenge. I smirked at him, my previous embarrassment gone.

"I'd like to see you try, Ryo" I say. He looked at me in surprise.

"'Ryo', Akashicchi?" He asked

"I give nicknames to the people I acknowledge. Do you mind?" I respond. "Akashicchi?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry about that, you remind me of him" Kise said, shaking his head. "I don't mind at all Arashicchi" he added with a smile.

"Ja ne, Kurokocchi, Kagamicchi, and Arashicchi~" Kise said as he walked away.

"Ja ne~" I replied, as Tetsu and Kagami were too busy talking about what Kise had said before.

"Kagami-kun, you say some deep things sometimes" Tetsu was saying.

"Shut up!" Kagami responded, embarrassed.

"Our Tai-chan can be quite the philosopher, ne Tetsu?~" I asked, joining their conversation.

"Shut up!" Kagami repeated.

"Hai hai. We better get back before Kantokou* gets mad, Ne?" I suggested. Both boys paled slightly and we trudged out of the park. Only to run into Riko and the rest.

"There you are!" She shouted once she spotted us and rushed at Tetsu. She tackled him and place him in her famous 'Boston-Crab Hold'

Kagami and I gulped and walked away.

"K-Kagami-kun... Arashi-San... Save me" we hear Tetsu's voice call out to us.

I turned around and gulped. "S-senpai! It's getting late, we should get going now" I called out from a safe distance.

Riko sighed and released Tetsu, who groaned.

"You're right, Arashi-chan. Let's go~" Riko said in a cheerful voice as she skipped past us.

I walked over to Tetsu and held out my hand

"Arigatou, Artemis" he said in a croaky voice as he took my hand.

"I just saved you from Riko, you owe me Kuroko Tetsuya" I mutter as we walk to catch up to the others.

"Yes, unlike _**someone**_ who left me to die" Tetsu said, emphasizing the someone as we reached Kagami.

"Sorry" Kagami said, not looking sorry. "But between living and saving you from Kantokou, I'd choose staying alive"

"I don't blame him" I said, shuddering as I looked at our coach.

"Oi and Arashi" Kagami said suddenly. I turned to him, eyebrows raised.

"I don't like my nickname" he said bluntly.

"It suits you" I argued.

"It does not!" He said. "Think of another one"

I thought for a moment of a nickname that would suit him. "I've got nothing other than Bakagami" I admitted. Tetsu snickered and Kagami sighed.

"Just call me by my first name, then" Kagami suggested, turning his face away from me.

"Ok" I reply. "But whenever you do something stupid 'Bakagami' it is, Taiga"

Kagami seem to brighten at my response, if the big smile on his face was any indication.

**Slight Kagami/Oc because he got the most votes last chapter :3**

**Quick Question-Should I bring Akashi into this story early? Or stick with Cannon and wait till the Winter Cup? PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!~**

***Itadakimasu-Thank you for the meal**

***Kantokou-Coach**

**Votes so far for who will end up with Artemis**

******Akashi-11**

**Kagami-9**

**Aomine-7**

**Kuroko-7**

**Murasakibara-2**

**Kise-1**

**Oc-0**

**Takao-0**

**Midorima-0**

**Thank you for reading!~**


	9. Enter the Carrot

**Hello Minna~~~**

**Sorry I haven't been updating as much recently. School and programs have been taking too much of my time =_=**

**But I wanted you all to know I'm alive and that this story shall continue!**

**Sorry if this chapter seems a little short and rushed, but I wanted to write something, and this seemed like the best thing to write~ **

**Part two of this chapter will hopefully be up soon~ I promise I won't take so long to update again!~**

**AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND REVIEWING! So many people have reviewed, read, and followed the story!~ it makes me so happy you guys like it!~**

**FOR THE PARING!**

**I decided since there are lots of votes for different people, and because I do not want anyone to feel bad that their character wasn't chosen, I shall make Alternate Universe Chapters in a separate story, in which the character you vote for will end up with Artemis. I don't really like harem stories, so I thought this would be a better option~**

**Rules for AU pairings- Character needs to have at least 8 or 7 votes!~ **

**Poll will be listed below~~**

**Thank you guys for the nice comments!~ They make my day \\ and thank you to AstridClaire for the AU suggestion!~**

**Remember, comments and suggestions are always welcomed!~**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Please R&R~~**

**Enjoy~~**

Enter the Carrot

I swore colorfully the moment my eyes opened and stared at the clock by my bedside. 6:00 A.M. On a Sunday. A freaking Sunday!

The reason for my sudden awakening? My stupid phone!

Groaning, I reached out to the small table beside my bed and grasped my phone. "If it's not important, I'll kill you" I murmured in a sleepy voice, not bothering to check who had called me at this hour.

"Someone's not a morning person" a familiar gruff voice replies, sounding far too pleased by my pain.

"Bakagami Taiga" I say in a sweet voice. "If you don't tell me the reason you called me at 6 in the morning, I will gouge out your eyes the next time I see you~"

"Wow, you into gory stuff, aren't ya?" Kagami asked shakily from the other end. "What do you need?" I asked, sitting up in my bed and rubbing my eyes. "Kantokou told me to call you and tell you that we're all supposed to meet after 3" Kagami said, sounding bored.

"Bakagami!" I shouted, annoyed. "Why did you have to call me at this time for that?!"

"I'm a morning person, so I got up early" he said. I could tell he was shrugging and close to laughing at me. That bastard...

Groaning, I fully stood from my warm bed. I couldn't go back to sleep now, thanks to Bakagami.

"One day you'll regret this" I say in my best evil voice, despite just waking up. I hear him chuckling on the other end and just hung up the phone. Might as well get ready for the day ahead...

Thinking of ways I could torture Kagami as I performed my usual routine, I thought about the reason behind our sudden meeting.

~~~After Kaijōu Match~~~~~~

"Arashi-chan?" I hear Riko's voice call from behind me as the others left. "Yes?" I ask, turning around to face her.

She had a pensive look on her face, as if she was considering something important. "Can I ask a favor of you? I want your help with something..." She trailed off. I nodded with enthusiasm.

"Sure~ Anything reasonable" Riko looked up and me and said, "Help me with their training"

"Huh?" I asked, confused. Managers weren't allowed to help train... "I saw how fast you were moving in the game" Riko explained. "And I thought that if the guys could learn to move as fast, that would give us a huge advantage over other teams. Especially in high-paced games" I shook my head sadly.

"They won't be able to reach my speed, Senpai" I said. "I'd love to help with training to get their stamina and strengths up, but I don't think speed-play matches any of their styles" I explained. "Styles?" Riko asked, looking confused. I nodded.

"Styles. Just like how Izuki-senpai is a visual player, Hyuuga-senpai is a shooter, and Kagami's strength is jumping" I explained. I placed my hand under my chin as I considered something new.

"They wouldn't benefit from training in speed-play, they'd be faster and have more stamina, but they should focus on their own skills first. I think they only player who's play would benefit from speed-play is Tetsu" I said thoughtfully.

"Kuroko-kun? How come?" Riko asked, no doubt shocked about this tidbit of information. "Think about it. His misdirection allows him to become nearly invisible on court for a limited amount of time" I say. "Imagine if he had the speed to steal the ball away from someone really far away from the rest of the team" A light of understanding shone in her eyes.

"I understand" Riko said, placing the palm of her hand on her chin as well. Looks like we have the same habit.. "So, about the training..." Riko said "I'd love to help. We can come up with ways to improve their skills together" I said quickly, in a cheerful voice. I would be officially working with Riko~

Seemed a lot more fun than just fetching towels and getting the team some water...

|~~~~Present Time~~~~~~~|

Kagami will go through hell. And I would make sure of that. I hummed quietly as I sat in my bed, finally done with everything.

Bored, I looked over at my watch and saw that it was still very early. 'Only 10 A.M? I hate you Taiga' I thought.

It was still way too early to head over to the park near the school for our meeting... 'I might as well head over to Tokyo though. It would be bad if I left around three' It usually took an hour to travel from here to Tokyo, and I was sure Riko would kill me if I showed up an hour late...

[~30 minutes later~]

I sighed as I exited the train. It was still 10! I was so sure it would be at least 11 when I got off... "At least I have this" I said absently as I threw my basketball in the air.

I might as well get some practice done while I wait for the others, right? I began to sprint as I got closer to the court near the train station. As expected, there was no one else there. 'Probably since there's no idiot who would come to the court at this time...' I thought, rolling my eyes.

[Somewhere else in Tokyo, a redhaired Power Forward sneezed]

I took my usual stance and began to dribble the ball. What should I work on now? I should really practice my weakest point, I realized. And yes I have a weak point, all players do, but I especially sucked at mine.

Three-pointers. I loved looking at the three-point shots when I was little. The players looked so graceful and amazing whenever they went for the three. It was actually the first thing I wanted to do when I started playing. Only to find that I sucked. Stretching my fingers a bit as I held the ball, I jumped and raised my arms. Only to be distracted. "What do you think you are you doing?" A voice asked rudely behind me. Startled, I released the ball, only to have it hit the board.

Another miss. Tch. A little angry, and maybe a little embarrassed, I rounded on the source of the voice. "What do you men 'what do you think you're doing'? I'm playing basketball" I said stiffly to the person behind me.

It was a guy. Much taller than I was, although I was getting used to that, he looked taller than Kagami but was, of course, shorter than Atsushi. He had dark green hair and wore glasses, his eye were green like his hair. His hands were tapped too, for some reason.

My first thought about him was that he looked strangely handsome. But the thought was quickly shaken away. "Hm, didn't look like it from where I was standing" the guy said, looking down at me with disapproving eyes.

"Well, I didn't ask" I retorted. Who the hell did this guy think he was? "Your shooting is terrible. Such form will never help you shoot a three-pointer" the guy continued.

A tick mark appeared in my head. "Well, why don't you try it, Mr. High and Mighty?" I asked, annoyed with him now. Three-pointers were always a sore subject for me. And to hear this stranger completely look down on my shooting ability was getting on my nerves.

"Hm, give me the ball, Nanodayo" the green-haired guy ordered, taking off the tape in one of his hands. I tossed him the ball and stepped away from the middle of the court, to give him some room. The guy shook his head.

"Remain as you were. I do not need to get so close to the hoop to make a shot" he said in an arrogant voice. Tch, arrogant to boot...

My annoyance was completely blown away when the guy went for the three. He was just as graceful as the players I saw as a kid, if not more. Despite his distance from the hoop, he was able to perfectly make the shot. I was extremely impressed. But I wasn't about to show him that. "So you can shoot threes, glasses-San" I said, taking the ball back.

"Can you dunk as well as you shoot?" I asked. Dunking was more on my alley. The guy only pushed up his glasses in a strange manner, causing the lenses to glint. "Hm, dunking is for idiots, Nanodayo" he said, glowering down at me.

"Someone sounds bitter" I say back, turning once more to the hoop. I jumped high in the air and used my momentum to dunk the ball hard into the hoop. I turned back to face the guy once my feet connected once again with the ground. Surprise was written on his face. Hm, guess he didn't expect me to be able to dunk...

"Yo-" the guy began to say before another voice cut him off.

"OIIII SHIN~CHAAN!~" the voice, a male one, called out from the entrance to the park. I stifled a laugh at the sight of a handsome raven haired guy with grey eyes carrying a large panda with a pissed off look on his face.

"Teme! I finally found you! Leaving me there like that! How cruel, Shin-chan!" The guy said to the green haired guy, whom I'm guessing was 'Shin-chan'

"Shut up, Takao" Shin-chan said to the other boy, who had just noticed me. "EH! Shin-chan was talking to a GIRL?! No way!" The guy exclaimed, looking beyond shocked.

I noticed a blush spreading on 'Shin-chan's cheeks. "I'm Takao Kazunari" the raven haired guy said, walking up to me and taking my hand. "I am sorry but I need your name and probably an ID to confirm the fact that Shin-chan is really talking to a girl" he said, extremely serious.

A smile broke across my face. I liked this guy already. "I'm Arashi Artemis. I don't have my ID now, but I can assure you I'm a girl" I reply.

Takao-San laughed and suddenly stopped. "Shin-chan...is she your GIRLFRIEND?!" He asked, tuning back to shin-chan.

The green haired boy who looked so composed and imposing before was reduced to a blushing mess. "T-TAKAO! I just met her! Shut up" the green haired guy stuttered, looking utterly embarrassed. I laughed along with Takao in spite of myself.

"Someone looks embarrassed" I teased. Shin-chan looked over at me and glared while Takao laughed.

"Shut up, nanodayo" he said, pushing his glasses up again

"Well, it was nice meeting you Takao-San, and Shin-chan-San" I said, noting that the time was around twelve now. I could head over to the park near the school and practice there..

"You too, Arashi~chan!~" Takao said cheerfully, smiling down at me. "Oi! Don't call me that familiar name!" Shin-chan growled after me.

"Whatever, Shin-chan-San!~" I called back to him! waving as I exited the court. What a weird pair...

[Back to Shin-chan and Takao]

"Shin-chan's for a girlfriend, shin-chan's got a girlfriend, shin-chan's got a girlfriend~" Takao sang as he drove the rickshaw, not complaining this time for once. "Takao! Shut up!" Midorima retorted, face flushing once more as he got on.

"What do you want in return for not bringing that 'girlfriend' stuff up?" He asked. If his other teammates heard of this...

"Drive the rickshaw today~" Takao exclaimed immediately. Sighing, Midorima stood up and headed to the front of the cart as Takao ran for the back.

"Shin-chan's got a crush~" Takao began to sing as they sped off. Midorima would have gladly shove Takao's face in a wall repeatedly if there weren't so many witnesses.

**Poll**

**Akashi-20**

**Kagami-19**

**Aomine-11**

**Kuroko-15**

**Kise-2**

**Murasakibara-5**

**Oc-0**

**Takao-0**

**Midorima-0**


End file.
